


The White Paladin

by Little_Stargazer



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, White Paladin Kagome, but minor shipping will be a thing on kagome's end, endgame pairing is final, hints to another past life of Kagome's, six lions of Voltron, the sango/kagome is told only in flashbacks and isn't current to the story, there will be a few moments its hinted to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 58,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27405610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Stargazer/pseuds/Little_Stargazer
Summary: Kagome, a sweet and caring girl who was destined to fall into the past at the young age of 15, is now a cadet at the Galaxy Garrison. Without warning, she's swept up in a new adventure with a new team. Her docile nature is shed away and is replaced by a trained warrior. Inherently strong and a formidable force to be reckoned with, she's not what her appearance makes her out to be.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Keith (Voltron), [implied] Sango/Higurashi Kagome, other relationship tags might be added
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.
> 
> Pairing is Keith/Kagome endgame, but in between shipping will be a thing.
> 
> Note:  
> Kagome is 17 in the prologue, and she's 18 when everything starts.

Prologue

* * *

She snuck a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was around before she opened the door to her room, quickly shuffling inside with an object awkwardly hidden in her uniform. She slammed the door behind her. Right as it shut, a small lump on her bed wiggled a bit before a furry head poked its way out from under the covers. The silver bell fixed to a pink collar jingled a bit as she moved.

"Mew!"

Kirara clambered free and pounded towards her on small feet, sitting down once she got a few paces away from the miko.

"Thanks for being patient until I got back," Kagome said as she pulled the item given to her earlier out from her uniform. She went to the far corner of her room and retrieved a bowl hidden in the closet. She opened the bag and filled the bowl with what was inside- cat food.

There was a knock on her door seconds later, and she jumped. She nearly spilled the dry bits everywhere on the floor, but she caught the bowl before it tipped out of her hands. She was about to hide it again before she realized who was on the other side of her door, the aura becoming familiar quickly. She sighed and set the bowl down so the twin-tailed feline could eat.

She hid the bag in her closet and went to the door, opening it a crack and waving the person inside. "Geeze, Shiro, you scared me!" she whined.

"Sorry," he said apologetically as he shut the door behind him. "You ran off so quickly, but there's something you need to know." He quickly spotted the strange cat in the small girl's care and he smiled.

"What is it?" Kagome asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but you need to know I won't be able to keep getting the food for Kirara. Do you have a solution for when I leave for the Kerberos Mission?"

Kagome frowned and glanced over her shoulder. "I'll manage…" she mumbled, thinking her options over. "If I need to, I'll just sneak out and get it myself. No biggie."

"Don't go getting in trouble," he cautioned. "You already have a hard enough time keeping her hidden during the day."

"Kirara is well-behaved," she responded with a shrug. "She knows to hide if she hears the door opening."

Animals in the barracks were forbidden, and she had no different permissions than the other cadets. It was just that she was stubborn and refused to listen. Shiro had caught Kirara one morning when she broke free to explore. Instead of making her find a new home for her, he agreed to keep it a secret just as long as she kept her hidden better.

Since that day, they had become familiar with each other.

"She's a strange cat," he said, and Kagome nervously nodded in response.

She wanted to tell him that she wasn't a common house cat, but that wouldn't hold up well. It was one thing to have a cat on Garrison Property, but it was another thing having a _demon_ cat on Garrison Property.

"Does… does she have two tails?" he asked, finally taking notice of her strangest feature.

"Mutation!" Kagome fired off right away. "Kirara's just got a… a mutation. Makes her more special."

"You're horrible at lying," Shiro responded with a dry tone, "but, I get the feeling the actual answer is one I don't want to know, so I'll let it slide."

"You probably don't," Kagome said, nodding her head to confirm those words of his. "Best to not question it."

"It feels like that phrase works for you, too," he muttered then. "You're a strange girl."

"Yup," she said, nodding yet again to confirm those words. "Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to hear the answer to."

Bright blue eyes stared up at him, and he sighed. Before he stepped away, he stopped himself and reached into his pocket. Kagome watched, curious, as he pulled out a pink feather toy.

"Here," he said, holding it out and placing it in her small palm. "I figured she could use a toy, as well."

A small smile brightened up her face, the small smile soon blooming into a large, cheeky grin. "You didn't have to," she said, flicking the toy as she watched the feather sway. "Oh, hey! It even matches her collar!"

"I know," he said, smiling at her happy nature, "but I wanted to."

"Thank you, Takashi," Kagome said, holding the toy at her side as she smiled up at him. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yeah," he said as he made for the door. "Make sure you keep her out of sight."

"'Kay~!"

* * *

She was honestly stunned to hear the news. That the Kerberos Mission ended in an error, and that all aboard were declared dead. It didn't feel right to her. Something seemed off, in her heart and mind. However, she had no right to call them out on it.

She settled down on the floor of her room, the pink feather toy Shiro gave her in her hand. She flicked it to and fro, watching blankly as Kirara leaped higher and higher to catch it. Kagome let her claim her foe. Kirara tore it from her hands and trotted away with it in her mouth. The twin-tailed cat settled down a few paces away and held the toy prisoner as she chewed on and licked at the feather.

Kagome turned her attention away from her and trailed a hand up her chest until her fingers were met by a cool, smooth surface. She pulled on a metal chain, tugging the bauble that hung on it up until it was securely in her grip.

The pink stone glistened even in her dark room, and she could feel as her frown got imprinted even deeper into her face.

This wasn't the first time she's lost a friend, but for some reason, it felt so strange. Maybe it was because this time there was nothing to back up the claim. There was no body, no blood, nothing to prove what was claimed.

She sighed and let the jewel fall from her grip, it falling back against her chest. Her hands fixed the straps of her tank top and she rested her head against the side of her bed.

Her behind started to hurt the longer she sat like that, and she soon pushed herself back up onto her feet. She fixed her shorts back into place and crawled into bed, letting her head rest on her pillow. Before long, Kirara came to join her, curling up against her chest and falling asleep not long after.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter One

* * *

The last year passed a bit slowly for her. She attempted to keep her mind clear of the doubts she felt about the Kerberos Mission for the sake of her performance at the Garrison, but it was impossible to shake completely.

She refused to believe that an error had caused the men on the Kerberos mission to die. Hell, a part of her refused to believe they were even dead. There was no proof of it- nothing. Whenever it got brought up around her, she had a hard time not questioning it. She knew doing so would only end up with her getting lectured and yelled at.

It was past curfew and all cadets were supposed to be in their dorms, but she was changed out of her uniform and dressed in her casual clothing. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun to keep it out of her face as she glanced around her room. She was almost out of food for Kirara, and she was planning on heading out to stock up on some more so she wouldn't have to worry about it when she actually ran out.

She patted down her white, pleated skirt and fixed her white tank top back into place before she pulled on her black, oversized hoodie. It fell over her skirt and hid it from sight completely. A pair of long, black socks hid her legs, and she quickly laced up a pair of combat boots.

She stood up and glanced around her room in a quick search for her bag. She slung her backpack over her shoulders before making her way to the door. She opened it and peeked her head out, about to look back at Kirara and tell her to wait when a cream-colored blur darted out past her legs.

"H-Hey!" Kagome hissed in a sharp whisper, "Kirara what're you doing?! Get back here!"

The cat didn't listen, and she continued dashing down the hall until she vanished around a curve. Kagome closed her door behind her before slinking down the hall after the demon cat.

Even though she couldn't see her, Kagome knew the path she had gone down. She snuck as quietly as she could as she ran down the hall, occasionally hissing a sharp " _Kirara_!" in hopes it'd get her to stop. She had to hide a few times to keep from getting spotted by the people walking down the halls and making sure no one was out past curfew.

Wrapped up in chasing Kirara down, Kagome failed to notice the presence of two other people out sneaking around. She rounded a corner, and right as she did, she ran into someone else. They both fell to the ground, Kagome landing on top of the stranger.

"Ow! What was that for?"

A voice she only heard while passing through the halls reached her ears, and she sat up so she wasn't pressing him completely to the floor. She sat on his stomach as she gathered her bearings, looking in every direction for where Kirara had dashed off to.

"Oh- _hello_."

She blinked at the flirty tone and she arched a shapely brow at his boldness.

"You're Kagome, right?"

"Yes," she said, not bothering to look back at him as she pushed herself off of him, reaching a hand down not long after to help him back up. "Any chance you happen to have seen a cat come running through here?" she asked in a hurry.

"A cat? No. Aren't animals prohibited?"

"Yup," she said, but that was it. She returned to slinking around in search of her cat, two figures now tagging along with her.

"The names Lance, by the way," the guy she ran into said. "Big guy right there is Hunk."

"I know who you are," she said. "You two and Pidge _really_ messed up test drills today." She stood up and looked at them. "Why are you out, anyway? It's past curfew. You should be in your dorms."

"I've been telling him that." Hunk said.

"What's your excuse?" Lance countered at the same time.

"I was gonna sneak off Garrison property so I could get Kirara more food, but she snuck out and now I have to find my cat." She sighed and shook her head. "I doubt any of the other officers will be anywhere near as relaxed about it as Shiro was. I'm not on anyone's bad side, and I wanna keep it that way."

"Wait- you knew Shiro? That man was a legend."

Kagome frowned and nodded. "I guess you could say that," she said then softly. "The last time Kirara ran off he ended up finding her before I could. He let me keep her just as long as I kept her hidden better."

It had been a long time since she spoke to anyone about Shiro, or even mentioned his name out loud. It felt so strange to say those words, and her heart panged at the memory her words stirred.

" _Oh, no no no! Kirara get back here!"_

_A sixteen-year-old girl scrambled after the cream-colored cat way too early in the morning. She ran down the empty halls, thankful that it was too early for any of the cadets to be up and walking around. There was still another half-hour before they had to get up and get ready for the day._

_Out of habit from her days on the other side of the well, Kagome was an early riser. She was used to Inuyasha waking her up at the first hint of the sunrise, and it was impossible to get back to sleeping in any later, even long after those days were over._

_She had left her room with the intention of taking a walk to pass the time. It wasn't against the rules for cadets to be up a little early, as long as it wasn't still in the night hours. Most didn't wake up, and if they did, they stuck to their rooms._

_Kagome rounded a corner and slid to a stop at the sight that greeted her. "Uh-oh…" she felt dread creep up her spine at spotting Kirara held in the arms of one of the Garrison officers- Shirogane Takashi. She bit her lip when his eyes landed on her._

_As he looked at her, she let out a nervous laugh._

" _Is she yours?" he asked, clearly meaning the cat that purred loudly in his arms as he rubbed under her chin. Having no other choice, she nodded._

" _Yes," she said. "Kirara is mine."_

" _It's pretty clear in the rules that animals aren't allowed," he said then, and she nodded her head to signal she understood._

" _It's just… she's really special. She used to belong to someone important to me, and I couldn't leave her behind…" The memory of the brown-haired slayer came with those words, and she bit her lip to stay composed. "... so I snuck her in."_

_She heard him sigh, but she kept her focus downward._

" _Look, I'm not supposed to do this, but I'll tell you what," Shiro said as he walked over to her, placing Kirara back in her arms- much to her surprise. She looked up at him, meeting his stare with wide, curious eyes. "If you promise to keep her hidden from now on, I'll act like this never happened, okay?"_

_She almost felt like she had to pinch herself to make sure she had heard right. "You mean you're letting her stay?" she asked, unable to keep her joy from seeping into her voice._

" _Yes, but you need to keep her hidden, okay?" Shiro said, reaching and gently patting her shoulder. "Think you can manage that?"_

_She nodded, a bright smile getting etched onto her face. "Yeah! Thanks so much!"_

Kagome shook her head before looking back at the two tagging along with her. Her expression twisted into an exasperated glare at the two trailing behind her. "Stop following me before you end up getting me caught."

"What makes you think we'll get you caught?"

"Please," she said, flicking her hand and looking away from Lance, "I've done this tons of times in the past year. I know what I'm doing, but I can't account for you two."

Right as those words left her mouth, the faint sound of footsteps echoed through the hall. It didn't take her long to realize it was yet another person making their rounds, and she looked for a place to hide. She shoved both boys in front of her as she urged them to be quiet. "Shut up and hide! You're gonna get me caught if you don't!" she fiercely whispered as she shoved them around a corner out of the way.

It was quiet between the three as the footsteps grew louder before eventually fading. Kagome sighed and leaned against Hunk, rubbing her forehead as she began trying to find wherever Kirara had run off to.

"Why is she even scampering off?" she hissed to herself as she kept following the invisible trail her aura had left. "She's only done this once before. I don't know what's gotten into her."

With Hunk and Lance still in tow with her, Kagome snuck through the halls. Eventually, she got to the roof, and she let out a sigh of relief at spotting Kirara sitting and flicking her tails in a rhythm. She lounged next to a familiar figure, watching them closely and curiously. She recognized them- it was the third of the two with her, Pidge.

"Kirara, there you are!" Kagome let out a sigh of relief and ran over to pick her up. She surprised the distracted person, and they jumped and looked at her.

"Oh, is that your cat?" Pidge asked her before saying, "she followed me up here and wouldn't leave me alone."

Kagome shrugged and held Kirara to her chest. "Sorry," she said then. "I don't know what came over her. She ran off, and she never does that."

"Why does she have two tails?"

"Don't ask questions you are prepared to hear the answer to," Kagome said decisively. "I guarantee you don't want to know why."

"..."

Her serious, sharp tone stunned the others with her, but they didn't ask. Kagome smiled and sat down next to Pidge, looking over what they were doing curiously.

"Whatcha up to, anyway?" she asked.

"Just… um just watching the stars." Pidge said, taken off guard when Kagome freely sat down beside her. Kirara settled down on her head, her tails flicking as her eyes mimicked her owner's, watching in curiosity.

"You're out here looking at the stars, but you got this stuff set up?" Kagome asked, her tone hinting that she didn't believe Pidge's excuse. "What are you really doing, Pidge? Where'd you even get this stuff from?" she asked, looking it over but not reaching out to touch it, lest she do something to mess up whatever Pidge was doing with it.

"Yeah," Lance peered over Kagome's shoulder, setting a hand there to keep balanced as he looked it over, too. "It doesn't look like Garrison tech."

"That's cuz it's not," Pidge said. "I built it." Hunk reached a hand out to it, only for Pidge to swat it away with a glare. "With it, I can scan all the way out to the edge of the solar system."

"Huh?"

"Edge of the solar system, you say?" Lance rose a brow and leaned even more over her shoulder, much to Kagome's annoyance. "You mean all the way to Kerberos?"

At the mention of Kerberos, Kagome looked back at Lance before finally shoving him off, fed up with him leaning over her to talk to Pidge. He fell back with a quiet _thud_ before sitting back up. When Pidge's expression turned sulky, Kagome frowned.

"Pidge? What's wrong?" she asked.

"He gets riled up whenever any of the instructors bring up the Kerberos Mission," Lance said. "I don't get it- why though?"

Pidge remained silent, turning back to the spread of technology and ignoring the others there.

"Pidge, come on! If we're gonna work as a team, we can't have any secrets."

"I have nothing to do with you three, but I'd like to know, too, Pidge," Kagome said, her words drawing attention to her. "I keep calm, but I have my own… opinions on the Kerberos subject and I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut whenever it gets brought up."

"Wait… what?"

She ignored Lance's voice as she focused on Pidge, who eventually looked at her. It was quiet for a moment before Pidge sighed and relented.

"Fine, I'll tell you," she said. "Everything is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some error. I've been using this stuff to scan the system, and I've picked up a lot of alien chatter."

"... Alien?" Kagome frowned at the mention of them.

"Wait, what?" Hunk rolled away from his spot next to Pidge's set up, backing away a little alarmed. "Aliens? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Pidge held a notebook up with a drawing on it, pointing a finger at it to coax them into looking at it. "It's going crazier than ever tonight. They keep repeating the word _Voltron_ over and over again."

"How sure are you?" Lance asked, folding his arms over his chest as though he didn't believe the words Pidge said.

"I know what I'm talking about!" Pidge snapped back defensively.

"So you're implying that aliens interfered with the Kerberos Mission, and that's why the crew is missing?" Kagome asked softly. Pidge pouted, almost as if she expected her to doubt it, too. When Pidge nodded, Kagome sighed. "Great… first demons and now aliens…" she muttered to herself, not caring if they heard her. "Anything else you wanna throw at me, life?"

"What'd you just say?" Hunk asked, but before she could respond, loud alarms sounded through the area. Kagome jolted up onto her feet, body tense, before she relaxed her posture some- though it didn't last long.

" **Attention Cadets! We are on lockdown- I repeat, we are on lockdown! Code Zulu Niner. All cadets must remain in the barracks until the situation is resolved."**

"Ooh… that can't be good," Kagome whispered finally as her gaze strayed up. She felt Kirara dive down into the hood of her jacket, hiding in it as Kagome looked up at the sky.

"What do you- oh no." Hunk was lost for words when he followed Kagome's line of sight up to the sky. Lit up in the distance and approaching the area at an alarming speed was an orange light. At first glance, it looked like a meteor or something much similar, but the speed it moved at knocked that option out of the air. "What is that thing?"

"Give you a couple of guesses," Kagome said, nudging the nervous guy with her elbow gently.

"No way!" Lance snatched the binoculars Pidge had, glancing through them to get a closer look at the free-falling object. "That's an escape pod!"

"It's definitely not one of ours, either," Pidge added on, much to Hunk's apparent unease.

"Uh oh… So this means there are actually aliens out there?" Hunk asked, "and they're on their way _here_?"

The four watched as the foreign ship plummeted closer, and it eventually hit with a loud vibration shaking the ground and building they stood on. Right away Kagome could feel her fight or flight instincts kicking in, and she balled her hands into fists.

She watched as a large chunk of Garrison officials headed out to the crash site. There was something that coaxed her to head towards it, and, without warning, she was making a dash for the area.

"H-Hey!" Lance shouted after her. He grabbed Hunk by his sleeve and tugged, ignoring his whimper of not wanting to go. "Let's go! Pidge, you coming?"

"Yeah!" Shoving her equipment into her bag as quickly and as carefully as she could, Pidge stood up and raced after the other three.

The three caught up with her, struggling to match her pace as she bounded ahead. She ignored every plea for her to slow down, her mind not recognizing the voices as her instincts pulled her forward. She never even stopped to consider how dangerous it was.

She skidded to a halt and ducked behind a large chunk of jagged rocks on a small hill. As she peeked her head up, the three tagging along mimicked her actions. They were looking over a setup tent, an abandoned escape pod, and scattered Garrison officials.

"Looks like whatever was inside that pod was already removed and put into the tent," Kagome whispered to the three with her. "Question is what was it?" She looked at Pidge and had a spark of an idea. "Hey, Pidge?"

"Yeah?"

"They've probably set up a surveillance cam to monitor what's going on inside, and to keep watch of the perimeter," Kagome began, turning her body to face Pidge. "You think you can hack into it and give us a look at what's going on in there?"

"I bet I can," Pidge said, already pulling out the needed equipment, and Kagome grinned.

"Great!"

"Uh, guys? I don't think this is a good idea," Hunk said, leaning in closer to the others. "How about we just head back before we get caught? Or worse- whatever they have in there attacks us somehow?"

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "It'll be okay," she said. She was sure about that for now. There was nothing alarming that she could feel from here, and she used that to secure her belief. "We're just gonna get a quick look."

"Got it!" Pidge exclaimed quietly. They gathered around the laptop to watch what was going on inside. Kagome let out a sharp gasp at the sight.

Strapped down to the table was Shiro!

She felt her breath running away at seeing him alive and struggling to get free. "That's Shiro!" she cried out loud, unable to keep the outburst down. "Oh my god, what are they doing to him?!"

"Mew!" Kirara peeked her head over her shoulder, meowing loudly as if she was voicing her own complaints about it.

" _What are you doing? Let me go!" His plea went unheard by the figures dressed in hazmat suits surrounding him. He pulled at the straps holding him down, but they didn't budge any. They held him in place, no matter how much he pulled against them._

" _It'll be okay, Shiro. It's protocol for you to remain under quarantine while we run tests."_

" _There isn't any time!" Shiro fired back, "aliens are coming- they destroy words! They're after some superweapon!"_

"They're not even listening to anything he says…" Kagome trailed off, her expression twisting into one of sadness.

"Where do you think the rest of the crew is? They're not even asking about them!" Pidge said.

"It's impossible to tell," Kagome said. "Even if they did, I doubt they'd bother to listen to his answer…"

" _Shiro, can you tell us how long you've been gone? Are you even aware of how long it's been?"_

" _I... I don't know. Weeks, months, years? It doesn't matter!" Shiro argued. "If you don't listen to me, it's going to be too late! We need to find Voltron! If they get to it first, they'll destroy Earth! Please! Listen to me!"_

" _Go ahead and put him under."_

_One of the individuals inside pick up the syringe from the table and walk over to where Shiro was strapped down. Despite his fighting, they managed to stick him with it. His movements become sluggish, and, before long, he fell limp on the metal table._

Kagome dug her nails into her palms, pressing her balled-up fists against her legs hard. "They- they…" What were they doing?

Among her relief that Shiro was alive, she was also angry. She was furious for their actions up until now- and for how they handled him in there.

That wasn't the ramblings of a crazed man. They were the ramblings of someone fearful and desperate. They were coherent and not twisting off on every possible tangent.

"They aren't even gonna listen to him?" Lance asked out loud. "Shiro's a living legend."

Kagome shook her head. "No, they're not. Worrying about them is a waste of time. We need to get him out of there," she said decisively.

Lance nodded, agreeing with her. "How are we supposed to do that?" he asked.

"I don't _care_ how we do it," Kagome snapped as she looked them over. "Just as long as we get him somewhere else then-!"

Kagome's words were cut off by a series of explosions going off in the distance. She whirled around as Hunk covered his head with his arms, returning to a crouching position.

"Oh no! Is that them!? Are the aliens here already? They- they got here so fast!"

"No, not aliens," Pidge said, standing up to get a good look at what was going on. As if on cue, almost all of the figures gathered at the tent took off to the explosions. "That was a distraction- for him!"

Pidge pointed out towards a lone figure skulking around the area and sneaking into the tent.

"That'll work!" Kagome said, clapping her hands before taking advantage of their granted distraction and bounding off towards the tent.

Lance, on the other hand, snatched the binoculars from Pidge's hands. He looked through them until he found the person in question, a scoff coming from him not even two seconds after.

"Ugh not him!" Lance said as he tossed the binoculars back at Pidge. She scrambled to catch them before they could hit the ground and break.

"Who?" Pidge asked.

"Keith!" Lance shouted back, taking off down the same path Kagome had gone. "He's not gonna one-up me this time!"

"Who's Keith?"

"Keith?" Hunk took off after Lance at hearing the claim, Pidge's question going unheard. "Are you sure it's him?"

"Who's Keith?!" She asked louder and ran off after the others.

Kagome was greeted by a new face when she darted into the tent. She didn't pay him any attention as she rushed to Shiro's side, pressing a palm to his forehead to check how he was doing.

"Shiro?" she whispered softly, trailing her hand down the side of his face before sighing. She looked up at the person standing opposite of her. "Get that side," she ordered, her sweet voice getting replaced by a commanding tone.

Keith and she had gotten Shiro off the table right as Lance ran in, and he lightly pushed her out of the way as he began arguing with Keith. She watched for a few seconds, her nerves getting worked up even more before she silenced him.

"Listen, Lance, we really don't have time for this!" Kagome snapped at him, glaring at him with icy blue eyes. "Now shut your yap and get a move on! They'll be back when they realize they were tricked," she said, "which won't be long."

"Instead of being bossy why don't you carry him then?" Lance huffed back at her. "Deadweight isn't easy to move around, you know!"

"She was doing just fine before you shoved her out of the way," Keith muttered.

She arched a brow and looked from Lance to Keith. She was about to decline the offer for the sake of heading out at last, but the approaching auras urged her forward. She decided if they weren't gonna move fast enough, she'd do it herself.

"Hand him over then," she said, her tone leaving absolutely zero room for argument.

"Wait- wait, I wasn't being serious," Lance said. "You'll end up getting crushed! Have you seen how little you are?! He's like twice your size- literally!"

Her eyebrow ticked in annoyance, and she could practically see the gears turning in Lance's head as he accounted for his words. "Hmm.. go on, keep putting that foot in your mouth," she said as she marched forward. "You have _no_ idea how strong I am or what I'm capable of," she hissed.

He had no idea the sort of training she had gone through.

Without bothering to hear his response, she shoved Lance away from Shiro's side and hefted him up onto her shoulders. She almost fell forward when Kirara bounded up on top of them both, but she caught herself and looked at the group with her.

"Anything else you guys wanna say?" she asked, agitation daring them to open their mouths. "No? Then get a move on!" she snapped at them.

"Uhh… you got it!" Lance said, putting more space between them as they left the tent and headed off towards the rocks.

Kagome spotted the hovercraft and shook her head. "No way in hell are we all fitting on that," she said.

"You got a better idea?"

Figuring it was better than sitting squished up against the group with her, she nodded. "I got an idea. You guys get on that."

"What about you?" Pidge asked.

"I have my own way," she said before tapping the ground with her foot. "Kirara, off!"

She listened to Kagome's words and hopped off of Shiro's back. Kirara landed a few feet away from Kagome, looking up at her with wide eyes. She knew what was coming, and her tails were swaying happily.

"What are you-"

"Shut up for a second," she cut Keith off without waiting to hear what he was saying. Before anyone could say anything, Kagome gave Kirara the okay to transform into her larger form.

"Ah!"

"What the hell is that thing?!"

She looked over her shoulder after setting Shiro down on Kirara's back. "She's my cat, Kirara," she said as if it wasn't a bit deal.

"That's not a normal cat!" Lance shot back. "What is it?"

" _Oh_ , all this talk of aliens and you don't bat an eyelash, yet _somehow_ my demon cat is what's strange about this," Kagome hissed at him. She clambered up behind Shiro, wrapping an arm around him to hold him tight enough so he wouldn't slip off. Her other hand gripped Kirara's fur to keep her stable. With his head nestled in the crook of her neck, she eyed the others. "Well, we gonna go or not?"

Choosing to not argue with the woman with a large, saber-toothed cat, those words pushed them to move.


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Two

* * *

The location they escaped away to from the Garrison was a shack hidden somewhere secluded in the desert. As soon as they got there, Kirara landed and knelt down so Kagome could dismount first. Kagome then carefully hoisted Shiro up and glanced at the group with her as Kirara reclaimed her smaller form once again.

"Where can I put him?" Kagome asked Keith, seeing as he was the one to guide her here.

"In here," he waved her to follow him, and she did just that. She set him down gently on the surface of the bed, and she let out a soft sigh as she sat down next to him.

It was quiet, but she could feel the weight of several stares. She ignored them as she focused on Shiro's state.

He didn't seem to be in any distress that she could feel, but she was reluctant to turn her back on him just in case. She set her hand on the side of his face and sighed, glancing at the group with her at last. "I'll keep watch over him and make sure everything's alright. It's late, and you all should go get some rest."

"What about you?" It was Hunk who asked first, and she flashed him a smile.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "I doubt it will, but if anything happens I'll wake you guys up."

Her words left no room for any argument, and the group found themselves listening to her words as if they were orders. Soon it was just her and Shiro left in the room, and she settled down comfortably next to him. An air of serene calmness fell over her, soothing her nerves back down.

Kirara jumped up next to her and sniffed Shiro a few times before laying in her lap. Kagome reached out to him, and her hand brushed against cool metal. Kagome focused her attention on the metal prosthetic arm he now had. Unable to stop herself, she reached for it and gently pulled his arm onto her lap. Kirara bounded away, hissing at it as her fur bristled up.

A strange and unfamiliar aura seemed to leak from the arm, and she frowned. This was no kind of technology she was familiar with.

She looked at his face with a worried look in her eyes.

"Shiro… what happened to you guys…?"

The unfamiliar aura of the prosthetic felt so foreign to her. She had never felt anything like it before in her entire life, and it made her uneasy. Kagome let the arm rest on the bed and off her lap as she closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. She was calm for a moment before she bolted up out of surprise. Kirara glanced up at her, curious when she suddenly stood up.

"What in the world is that…?" Kagome whispered under her breath so no one close to the room would hear.

Somewhere far off from here, she had felt the pull of another strange aura. It made her heart pound. Now that she felt it, she couldn't ignore it. Now that the panic of running from the Garrison Officials had died down, she could feel the things around her clear as day.

Kagome set her hand on her chest and frowned. Whatever it was, it was pretty powerful by the feel of it. It didn't seem necessarily threatening _to her_ but that didn't mean she could rest easy feeling it. It wasn't moving, however, seeming to stay put in one spot.

Unable to ignore it, Kagome settled back down and tried her best to not let it work her up.

* * *

"Hey- Kagome?"

A gentle shake woke her, and she sat up from her slumped position with a startled look flashing in her eyes. A second later she yawned, lifting her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"When did I fall asleep?" she murmured to herself. She couldn't remember the exact moment, but she could remember seeing the faint glow of sunlight far off before she finally drifted off. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as her gaze landed on the form of Shiro sitting up and watching her.

Kagome sat frozen for a second before she leaned towards him abruptly. She wrapped her arms around him and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you're up." She couldn't find the words to describe just how much she had missed him, and she instead hoped her hug spoke the words she couldn't find. After a moment's delay, she felt him return the hug, and she smiled. "I'm so glad to see you again. You have no idea how much I missed you."

Shiro smiled as the surprise of her hug wore off, and he returned the gesture. "I... I missed you, too." He set a hand to the back of her head, gently palming her dark locks.

She felt so small and delicate against him, but she was really there. It was a relief to see her again and to feel that she was actually there. The contact was so gentle, he didn't want to break it off, but he had to eventually. He let her go, but she then placed her hand on the side of his face as she looked him over.

"How are you feeling?" Kagome asked, her eyes wide and full of innocent concern. "You don't seem to be in any pain, but I don't know. Tell me if you're hurting and-!"

"I'm fine, really," Shiro laughed, cutting her off before she could launch into a ramble. "I… I don't remember much of anything, but I think I'm okay."

Kagome nodded and decided to accept his answer for the time being. She'd keep an eye on him for a while just to be sure. She swapped focus to the mention of his missing memory, and she sat back some. "We have to give it time. I'm positive you'll be able to remember what happened if you give it some time."

"Yeah," he muttered softly, but he didn't sound content with the situation. Kagome frowned, unsure of what she could say to reassure him. What could she say? Kagome stood up then, shaking her head, deciding it was time to get the others.

"You're here and okay, that's what matters," she said decisively as Kirara leaped up onto her shoulder. "I'm sure everyone wants to know how you're doing, so we should go greet them."

"Huh? Everyone?"

Kagome nodded, a smile finding its way onto her face. "Yup! Last night was kinda crazy," she said. Well, maybe not by her standards, but for normal people it had to of been a little crazy.

That was why she took up the responsibility of watching over Shiro for the duration of the night. She knew how draining something so hectic could be on the human body, and she was willing to bet anything that the other's who had gotten caught up in it with her weren't nearly as used to chaos as she was.

Kagome made for the door, her actions encouragement enough for him to push himself up out of the bed he was on. Shiro fell into step behind her. To her surprise, Keith and Pidge were up already when she entered the main room of the shack they were in. Lance and Hunk had taken up the couch, and they were half-way sleeping on each other.

"Morning!" Kagome sang cheerfully as she entered the room, and she looked over Keith and Pidge. As she got a good look at them, she didn't think they slept much more than she had last night. She could see the exhaustion in their eyes, but she chose not to comment on it. Shiro paused in the doorway as Kagome trotted ahead to the couch.

The sun was still rising in the distance, and Kagome started to wake the two sleeping. She gently shook their shoulders, and, while she did that, Keith closed the space between him and Shiro.

"How are you feeling?" Keith asked, looking up at Shiro. His voice pulled his attention from Kagome's form. He turned to face Keith with a half-smile. He motioned to the door and both of them headed outside.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder as the pair walked outside, but she didn't try to stop them. The room they were in was so small, and she was able to hear Keith's question. Shiro probably realized she'd hear his answer, too.

A frown rested on her face as she lowered her hand from Lance's shoulder. Hunk was rubbing his eyes as he sat up completely.

"What time is it?" he asked, yawning and looking around.

"Still early," she said, "maybe six or so?" Her distracted tone was noticed, and Hunk looked at her, worried.

"You okay?"

Kagome jumped at the question and gave a laugh that was hard to believe. "Haha, of course! Just peachy."

Without warning, she dropped her weight on the couch between Hunk and Lance. The latter finally jolted awake when her elbow dug into his side. He groaned and rubbed the spot. "What'd you go and do that for?" His question was ignored by her, and he turned to look at her. Lance spotted her deep in thought, arms crossed as if she hadn't even realized she'd dug her elbow into his ribcage. "Hey- Kagome?" Lance waved a hand in front of her face.

She knew why Shiro hadn't answered Keith's question while still inside, but knowing why didn't make her feel any better. He didn't want her to worry even more than she had been, but all that meant was that he was hiding something from her. Kagome bit her lip, only coming out of her thoughts when she bit hard enough she drew blood. She hissed in pain as she tasted blood, and she lifted a hand to soothe the pain some. An invisible glow surrounded her fingertips and she pressed them to her injured lip.

When she looked up next, she spotted the three in the room with her watching her, and she could see the worry in their eyes.

"Something wrong?" Lance asked.

"Oh, no," she said as she shook her head. "Accidentally bit my lip," she said, laughing it off.

* * *

Keith followed Shiro out of the door and a little further off. The sun was still rising in the distance, and Shiro paused to face it. He acted like he was interested in seeing it rise, but, in reality, he had wanted to come outside so Kagome wouldn't hear this conversation. She was already worried enough, and he didn't want to add to that burden.

It was quiet between them for a moment, and Keith finally placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder to gain his attention. "So, Shiro, what the hell happened to you out there?" When Shiro finally turned to face him, he added on, "where were you?"

Shiro laughed dryly and turned back out towards the sunrise, trying to coerce his memories back. No matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn't. The entire thing was just black nothingness. "I… I wish I could tell you," he said. "My head's so scrambled, and I can't remember anything other than being on an alien ship. I escaped somehow, but I don't know how."

Keith listened as he talked, trying to think of something he could say in response, but he couldn't form any words. Comforting people wasn't one of his strong points. He was still working on something to say when Shiro looked back at him.

"How did you know to come to get me when I crashlanded last night?"

Keith's mind went to the hidden bulletin board covered by a sheet back inside, and he turned to face the building not far behind them. "There's something you probably want to see," he said, and he started on his way back. Shiro fell into pace behind him, and when they reentered, they saw everyone now fully awake.

Kagome looked at them with an uneasy gaze, but Shiro smiled in an attempt to soothe her worries. It didn't seem to work, and she glanced down at her feet.

Keith walked over to the farthest wall and yanked the sheet down as carefully as he could. The papers underneath it swayed some before fluttering back into place. He tossed the sheet on the couch, and all eyes went to the newly-exposed board.

"Keith… what in the world have you been up to?" Shiro asked.

Keith focused on the board as he answered. "Honestly, I can't really explain it. After I got kicked from the Garrison, I sorta ended up pulled to this place," he said, glancing down. "It feels like there's something here… some kind of energy's telling me to search."

Kagome's attention was grabbed with those words, and she listened intently to what he had to say. She could, very easily, confirm that there was some kind of energy out there. Without meaning to, she blurted out, "for what?"

Her voice called attention to her, and those in the room with her turned to face her. She ignored everyone else, attention focused on Keith.

"I didn't really know what exactly until I came across this strange area," he turned back to the board, and Kagome closed the distance between them. She stood between Keith and Shiro as he set a hand on the board. It was a map, with a specific section circled. "This spot… it's an outcropping of giant rocks. There are caves everywhere with some kind of ancient markings all over their walls. They all have stories about a blue lion, each one a little different than the others, but all of them have these clues about some event happening, some kind of arrival supposed to happen last night… and then Shiro crashlanded."

"Wow. You sound completely insane," Lance commented dryly, and Keith glared at him.

Kagome glanced over his shoulder with a similar glare. The twin-look was enough to make him take a step back.

"While I don't know Keith enough to vouch for his sanity, there is some accuracy to his words," Kagome said with a huff. "Something is definitely here. I can feel it, too."

"... thank you?" Keith said, unsure if he should even thank her for her input. It came out like a question, and Kagome smiled at him. A second later, he caught her other part. "Wait, are you serious?"

Kagome looked Keith in the eyes as she nodded. There was a tense silence that made her regret saying anything, but she couldn't take it back. "I…" she trailed off, looking for something she could say without revealing even more of her secrets. "I've always been in tune with things like this. I could feel it last night, but I tried to ignore it." She glanced away from the rest and sighed, "it's not common, so I never told anyone about it. I'm sure you know how it is..." Kagome smiled at him, and Keith lost his train of thought for a second. "It's nice to meet someone who can feel things the way I do."

"I-I… yeah," he managed a stumbling response, and he could feel Shiro's smile as he watched the two talk.

Shiro decided to give Keith a break and he turned to the other three. "I should thank you all for helping me out of that situation," he said and attention went to him. He held his hand out to Lance. "Lance, right?"

Lance looked at the metal hand for a moment before he took it, and Shiro turned to the other two next.

"This guy's Hunk," Pidge said, motioned to the one at her side. "I'm Pidge." She paused for a moment before continuing, asking a question she'd been wanting to ask him since they had brought him there. "What happened to the rest of your crew? Did any of them make it out, too?"

He looked down, a complicated expression on his face. "I… don't know. Everything's in bits and pieces in my mind. I remember being captured and being on the ship, but everything else is just… gone."

"Okay, I hate to interrupt, but can we please go back to the aliens?" Hunk asked, "where are they? How close are they, and are they after all of us? Should we be hiding? Like, where are they at this very moment?"

Kagome blinked, startled by his panicked rush of words. She set a hand on his arm, hoping it'd soothe him some.

"I can't make sense of it," Shiro said. "They mentioned the word _Voltron_. It's some sort of weapon they're after, but I don't know what they're after it or what it'll do. Whatever it is, we need to find it first. There's no telling what they'll do if they get their hands on it."

Hunk picked a bag up, and Kagome placed it to be Pidge's. She glanced curiously as he unzipped it and jammed his hand in it in search of something. "Well, last night I was going through Pidge's stuff, and-" Hunk paused, pulling his hand out with a photograph between his fingers, much to Pidge's surprise, "I found this photo, look it's his girlfriend," he said with a chuckle.

Pidge snatched the photo from his hands with a glare. "Why were you going through my stuff, Hunk?!"

"I was looking for a candy bar," he said as Pidge went back to stuffing the photo into the bag. While Pidge was doing that, Hunk pulled a small book out of his pocket. "Anyway, so, I started reading his diary and-"

"What?!" Pidge snatched the diary from Hunk's hand.

Hunk continued, even after the diary was snatched from his hand. "I saw that the repeating numbers those aliens are looking for looks an awful lot like a Fraunhofer Line."

"A Frown-what? What's that?" Keith asked, and Hunk turned towards him.

"It's a number that describes the emission spectrum of a specific element, but the element for this one isn't one that exists on Earth. I'm thinking that it might be Voltron," Hunk said as he turned to face everyone else. "I'm pretty sure I can build some sort of machine to help look for it, something like a Voltron Geiger counter."

"If you're able to, then finding it would probably be a lot easier," Kagome said.

"It's really fascinating, to be honest," Hunk said as he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it and showed the room. "It's wavelength looks like this."

Kagome peered closer at it, realizing its similarity to a photo on Keith's corkboard. Before she could comment on it, Keith snatched it from behind her. "Let me see that for a second." He held it up to the board, seeming to have the same thought as she did.

Kagome joined him next to the photo and traced a finger along the pattern Hunk had sketched up. "They look almost identical."

"What does?" Shiro asked, joining them. The others soon crowded around, too.

"These boulders," Keith said. "Look at the shape of them. It matches up with the paper."

Kagome smiled and turned to face the group. "Looks like we know where to start once Hunk gets his machine finished."


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Three

* * *

She sat on the wooden railing of the porch, silently watching Kirara kick the dirt up as she chased a butterfly around. She'd decided to head outside to get more space from the arguably cramped building they'd hidden the night away in. By now the sun was nearly fully in the sky, and Hunk had said he'd have the radar finished soon when she went out.

When the door opened and someone stepped out to join her, she glanced away from Kirara. Kagome smiled towards Shiro as he stepped up to the railing she sat on. He returned it as he leaned forward on the railing, watching alongside Kagome as Kirara chased butterflies.

"What's up?" Shiro asked. "You just came out here without saying anything."

Kagome shook her head, and she pulled on a smile that she hoped looked convincing as she pulled one leg up. She tucked her chin onto her knee, foot braced on the railing next to her as she turned her body a bit away from Shiro, guarding herself against him seeing her face. "Nothing," she hummed in response. "Just came out here to do some thinking. Anyway," she sighed, "everyone was doing their own things."

Shiro could tell that something was bothering the normally radiant girl, and he frowned as he leaned more of his weight on the railing next to her. Silence reclaimed the porch they occupied. Kagome followed Kirara with her eyes, watching as dirt got kicked up when she made a particularly high jump in her small form.

Her early teen years had been stolen by a quest for some stupid marble and demons to boot, and the idea alone that her current years could possibly be stolen by aliens brought her a newfound sense of utter discomfort. She'd left Japan to get away from the hectic side of her life, but it seemed that no matter where she went, it'd somehow find her and pull her right back into it.

She could feel the pulse of the energy source out in the distance. Like water, it flowed through her senses. It was almost like she could feel it enveloping her, despite the distance between her and it. The jewel around her neck began to glow a bit brighter, but Kagome tried to tell herself it was just the sun shining on it the wrong way. She glanced down, half-lidded eyes catching sight of the blue hue seeming to spread through the normally pink tint. She frowned and reached a hand up so she could cover it before Shiro noticed. She tucked it underneath her hoodie and hoped the shine wouldn't show through the fabric.

She knew ignoring it wasn't the brightest thing she could do, but she couldn't find it in her to care at that moment. The jewel had caused more than enough trouble, and if it refused to leave, then she'd settle in dealing with it any way she could. Still… her frown deepened as she found her attention straying back down. If someone were to look closely, they'd surely see the unnatural shine from underneath her black hoodie.

This was the first time it'd ever done something like this. Most of the time, it remained dormant, glowing that peaceful rose-pink. It wasn't like when it had gotten tainted in the past, when it had turned into a lurid black of swimming shadows. No, it was more like it was melding with that bizarre aura. Pink and blue swirling together almost like a multicolor whirlpool. Neither color faded, but still blended into one another.

"It's done!" Hunk said, and he and the rest filed outside where Kagome and Shiro were. "Everyone ready to go?"

She was pulled from her thoughts when he spoke, and Kagome nodded. She jumped at the chance to ignore her concerns over the jewel. "Yup! Let's get going then," Kagome said as she hopped off the railing. She went to retrieve Kirara. The cat looked up when Kagome got close, and she leaped up into her arms as soon as Kagome had opened them. Kagome returned to the rest, and as she got near Shiro, Kirara jumped from her arms and into his, purring contently as he let her on his shoulder.

It was silent as eyes went to the cream-colored cat. It didn't take long for the silence to be noticed, and Kagome looked at them, confused. "What's up?"

"Are we really just not gonna talk about the cat?" Lance asked finally, motioning to the cat draped over Shiro's shoulder and purring happily. Shiro looked at him with the same confused look as Kagome. "Y-You gotta explain that stunt last night if she's gonna be coming!"

"What wrong with Kirara?" Shiro asked, having been the only one to not witness the cat's other, very terrifying form last night.

Kagome's eyes widened as realization struck, and she hurried to turn her back to Shiro's searching stare. She didn't turn quick enough, however, and he managed to see her flustered expression. "I-I have no idea what he's talking about," she declared, folding her arms over her chest.

Shiro looked at her and sighed. "Kagome… I may have been gone for a while, but you haven't changed. You're still a terrible liar."

She could tell she wasn't going to get out of this, no matter what she did, and she sighed. Kagome had been hoping that they'd manage to forget it in the craziness that had gone down last night, but it seemed like that wasn't possible. "Kirara." The single word from Kagome caused Kirara to bolt off of Shiro's shoulder. She bounded a good amount of space away from the group before a familiar blaze of flames whirled up around her. Before anything could be said, the flames were gone as suddenly as they came.

The flames died down, and left in their wake was Kirara in her larger form. She trekked over to Kagome, walking in a circle as she wound herself around her, nuzzling her and rumbling affectionately.

"Huh…" Pidge said after a moment, being the first to speak since Kirara had taken her large form. "She's not as scary in the daylight."

The rest hummed in agreement. Her size was still imposing, and so were her terrifyingly sharp teeth, but in the light, she definitely looked more like an oversized kitten… just one that happened to be as tall as Kagome.

Shiro looked at the large saber-toothed beast that stood next to Kagome. The ground was scorched some under the cat, dark marks left behind by the flames that had engulfed the once much smaller feline. The shock was evident on his face, and when he looked at Kagome, she turned her head to the side with her cheeks dyed a deep crimson.

"I can't believe you hid her on Garrison property," Shiro finally said. He paused, seeming to think his words over. A second later, he sighed, "actually, scratch that. I _can_ believe you'd somehow manage to hide something like this." Everything he knew about Kagome just seemed to confirm how strange of a person she actually was.

"I know she looks… intimidating," Kagome said, "but she's mostly harmless- promise!"

"I was held captive by aliens. _This_ ," he said, motioning to Kirara, "is nothing compared to that." He saw Kagome exhale in relief, and he closed the distance she'd put between her and the rest of them, Kirara circled around her as if guarding her against any possible reaction. He reached a hand out and scratched behind her ear, and Kirara began purring loudly, leaning her large head into his palm. "If you say she's not dangerous, then I'll believe you."

His actions served to pull the rest forward as they got used to the new appearance.

Tentatively, the rest reached out and tested touching the large cat, while Kirara sat down and purred happily as she soaked up the attention.

"I kinda expected her to be more growly," Hunk said as he scratched under her chin. A second later he placed both hands on her face and rubbed her face gently. "Aww, who's a good kitty? You are!"

"Woah, warm too!" Lance exclaimed as he combed his fingers over the puff of fluff around her neck.

"Kinda... cute once you get past the teeth," Keith said as he patted the top of her head.

Kirara glanced at Kagome before she stretched and flopped onto her side, successfully pulling the four down with her into the dirt when they hadn't expected her to move. They landed with a thud. Pidge, who had been on the other side, had managed to avoid the trip down.

Kirara rumbled in content as they slowly got back onto their feet, and Kagome tried to stifle her laugh to no avail. She giggled, and Kirara phased back into her small form once they had all gotten up.

"I think that's her way of saying that's enough," Kagome said once she managed to smother her giggles. She shook her head and composed herself again and let Kirara settle onto her shoulder. "We should start looking now, after all."

"You're right," Shiro said. He looked at Hunk, who had the radar, and nodded. "Alright, everyone, let's go."

They set off towards their intended location. Kagome wasn't sure how long they'd been walking before they arrived. She'd lost track the further and further they went. They eventually made it to the spot, and the machine Hunk built picked up a frequency.

"Uh, it's telling us to go that way," Hunk said, nodding in the direction his radar was pointing them in. With that information, they started in the direction, being led to a cave.

"Are these the markings you mentioned, Keith?" Kagome asked as she looked around. They covered the walls all around them. There was barely any unmarked space left, the markings littering nearly every inch.

Keith nodded as he came up next to her. "Yeah. They're all over the place down here."

Kagome turned a full circle as Lance went up to the cave wall. Curious, he brushed his hand along a few of the markings. Not long after his hand made contact with them, the markings all around them began to glow a bright blue. The light filled the cave, and the rest looked on in awe at the abrupt change.

"They've never done this before," Keith said as the glowing began to get brighter.

The ground under them began to turn soft, almost as if it was soft clay finally crumbling apart. None of them could move fast enough to avoid falling downwards, sliding down along a slab of rock practically drenched in water. Several screams filled the cavern they slid down into, a loud series of splashes finally drowning the screams out as they landed in a pile in the water below.

The only one of them who had avoided the watery fall was Kirara, who had all but flung herself to the first glimmer of dry rock she saw.

She could feel it the moment they fell into the ground, but now that everything had come to a halt, she could _really_ take it in. As she slowly got back up, bracing herself on her knees, her eyes landed on the large blue lion hidden in the very back of the cavern they were in.

She pushed herself fully up and out of the water like the others, but as they slowly went up to the lion, she hesitated. The large robotic lion seemed so surreal in front of her, despite it being right there, concealed by the sheer blue barrier. Kagome hung back as the rest went ahead. The jewel hidden under her hoodie pulsed, and it the same feeling from before came back tenfold.

The aura surrounded her in a cool, wavy embrace. She could _see_ the blue tendrils reaching for her, but she didn't move towards it. Though she couldn't see the jewel clearly, she could tell it was still a swirl of pink and blue. In the dim cavern, the glow was brighter.

The jewel had never responded to anything like it responding to this lion, and she wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. It didn't feel bad, but…

Her hesitation was noticed by Lance, and he glanced back with a frown on his face.

"Hey… you okay?" he asked. Kagome jumped when she heard him speaking to her. She nodded and stammered out a reply.

"I- Yeah," she took a breath and began to walk with the rest over to the lion. "It's just…"

"You don't have to explain," he said, humming as he turned back to the lion. "Anybody feel like this thing is watching you?" he asked.

"No?" Shiro said, glancing back at Lance. "Do you?"

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "It totally feels like the eyes are following me," he said, occasionally moving from side to side, to no avail. The feeling never went away.

The two joined the rest at the base of the lion. Kagome could feel it pulling her forward, but she ignored the feeling of it. Lance eventually went up to the barrier, and as soon as he touched it, the sheer blue wall faded and dropped.

As soon as the barrier fell, they all were bombarded with the vision of Voltron, and the lions that formed it. They were stunned as the vision faded.

"This… this is only a single part of what they're after," Kagome said, looking up in awe at the lion they stood before.

"Um, Kagome…"

Kagome blinked and looked around at the rest when they were strangely silent. All eyes were on her, and she tilted her head to the side. "What are you guys looking at?"

"You're glowing," Keith said, and his words took her by surprise.

"Thanks?" she said, partially confused and a little embarrassed. A strangely bright light caught in her eyes not long after. Kagome felt her face heat up as she finally realized what he had meant. Her attention fell down, and she could see the vivid blue and pink glow from under her hoodie. It was radiantly bright now, and she looked up at the lion the next second. "H-Huh?!"

"What is that?" Shiro asked. He didn't know what she could have that would be glowing so brightly in the cave. He watched as Kagome finally dipped a hand under the collar of the dark material and she pulled out a small, round gemstone necklace.

"I-It's never done this before," Kagome said as she palmed the jewel in her hand. She tugged the necklace off so she could get a better look at it. "I think… it's the lion causing it."

"Huh?"

"Look, okay it's not a normal jewel," Kagome said, her expression weighed down. "In fact, there are probably very few things about me that are _actually_ normal, and I've learned to deal with it, but _this_ is definitely new," she admitted. "The lion is the only thing I can figure to be causing this."

The lion suddenly moved so it was kneeling in front of them, and out of reflex, Kagome threw up a barrier just in case something tried to attack them. When the lion finally settled into a position with its mouth open, Kagome watched it cautiously. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she ignored the curious stares she got as the others observed the translucent pink barrier encasing them. Shiro set a hand on her shoulder.

"... Kagome?"

She took a deep breath and turned towards Shiro. She knew she had more to explain after her knee-jerk reaction, and she lowered her gaze to the ground. She let the barrier fall.

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes. They were all looking at her expectantly, all seeming to have their own confusions over the things that had just unfolded in only a few seconds. Her mind went back to her moment on the rooftop with Lance, Pidge, and Hunk the night right before Shiro crash-landed.

" _ **If we're gonna work as a team, we can't have any secrets."**_

That had been what Lance told Pidge before things had become what they were. Sure the context wasn't the same, but…

She'd become a part of this team the moment she helped bust Shiro out of that quarantine tent. Her secrets couldn't be hidden from the team she was on.

The rest were silent as they waited. Whether it was because they were still processing it, waiting for her to begin, or if it was just because Shiro was supportively waiting for her to say something, she didn't know.

"... told you," she eventually said. It was very clearly hinting to what she'd said previously, about how very few things about her were normal. Still, even if she wanted to tell everything, a part of her held onto the darker parts of it all. Not to hide them, but because she couldn't face reliving them. Not yet, not so soon. "This dumb marble is cursed, and it's my problem," she said. She held the jewel up, glaring at it as it continued to shine, like some pretty lie. "It's normally dormant, but for some reason, being here made it… wake up, I guess."

"That doesn't sound good," Hunk said. He frowned when he saw her worried expression deepen.

"It's not," Kagome said then. "Because that means it's a target all over again."

"Target?" Shiro tensed up when she said those words. "Target for what?"

"... everything," Kagome said quietly. "It draws everything to it. The jewel gives the wielder a boost of unimaginable power. That, and it's able to grant the wishes of its holder, but only if it decides it wants to grant their specific wish."

"Why do you have it?" Shiro asked, but Kagome was silent for a long time before she finally managed an answer.

"Because it chose me," she said. "It likes my aura, so it refuses to let me wish it away… otherwise, I would've done that years ago," she muttered quietly. "I haven't had to worry about it in so long, since it was dormant, but now…" Kagome looked at the lion. She could feel its aura calling to her, and she shook her head as if she was scolding herself. It almost felt… _apologetic_ for making her react the way she did. "When the lion moved, I thought something was going to try and take the jewel, but I was wrong," she said then. "The jewel was reacting to it, and it couldn't do anything about that."

Kagome pulled away from the rest as she approached the lion. Something about it felt _alive, aware._ Much like the jewel, it seemed the lion had its own level of sentience to it. She walked up to the lion, setting her palms on the cold metal once she was beside its face. "I'm so sorry for mistaking you," she said softly. "You must be happy to have someone find you after you've been here alone for so long."

The others behind her watched, stunned and wide-eyed as she apologized to the lion, but perhaps the strangest part was the way it seemed to growl in response as if it were _answering_ her.

Kagome turned to the rest with her, a serene smile on her face as she waved to them. "Come on," she said, "it's inviting us inside. It means no harm."

Kirara was the first to bound after her, jumping from Shiro's shoulder and darting after Kagome. The rest follow suit, all of them piling into the blue lion's head. Lance helped himself to the helm, sitting in the pilot's seat. Not long after he sat down, however, the seat jerked forward and lights flashed on inside the small area.

"Woah!" Lance exclaimed, looking around and reaching forward to mess with a few of the switches and buttons. The rest continued to look around as Lance messed with the buttons. He paused after a second, and glanced around "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Keith asked.

Kagome looked at him, and Lance met her stare. "I- I think it's communicating to me," he said. "You can hear it too, can't you, Kagome?"

She shook her head. "No. I can't hear it, but I can feel it," she said. "It does seem like it's bonding to you," she said after a moment's thought. "What's it telling you?" she asked.

Lance looked back at the controls. He reached out to press a few more. Without warning, the lion stood up with them inside of it. Kagome stumbled, taken by surprise when the lion suddenly began moving, and she shot a hand out to grip the person closest to her, which happened to be Keith. He didn't pull back, and instead, let her grip his arm so she didn't fall.

"Hm… now let's give this a try," Lance said, gripping the controls tight and pushing forward. Kagome stumbled into Keith even more, falling against his chest and nearly taking him down with her as the lion took off in a sprint.

It smashed through the walls and took off towards the sky, sending chunks of rocks flying as it burst free. Kagome had never been more grateful for the fact she used to be slung around piggy-back style by Inuyasha in the past, otherwise, she'd get sick with the way the lion was soaring.

She felt Keith grip her with one hand, his other holding tight to the seat Lance was in.

"What are you doing?!" Keith shouted at Lance. "You've gotta be the worst pilot ever!"

"Oh come on!" Lance exclaimed, "what do you mean? This is awesome!"

"Please make it stop!" Hunk cried out, trying his hardest not to lose his balance in the rapidly moving lion. Pidge had braced against him for support, but both of them looked like they were about to fall forward at any second.

"I'm not doing anything anymore," Lance said. "It's like it's on autopilot." He paused and looked at the rest around him. Without warning, the lion stopped flipping around and smashing into things, and it took off straight into the sky. Soon enough, they were approaching Earth's atmosphere.

"Where are you going?!" Keith asked as they all got a clear view of the sky as it began to shift into a black, starry mass.

Lance glared at Keith. "I'm not controlling it anymore! This thing's gone on autopilot or something," he said. He paused for a second before looking back in front of him as if looking for something. "It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. It… I think it wants us to stop it," he said finally.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Pidge asked. Lance shook his head and looked back at the controls.

"I think I got an idea," he said. "It's like the lion is feeding ideas into my brain." The ship came into view in a matter of seconds, and Lance looked back at the rest of them with him. "Everyone, hold on!"

The rest took his warning and braced themselves on anything they could as Lance pressed several buttons. The lion fired a laser from its mouth, hitting and heavily damaging the ship that had been approaching Earth. As the lion flew away from the ship, a series of explosions ran along where the laser had hit.

"Alright, time to get them away from our planet," Lance said. He shoved the controls down, and the lion took off away from the ship. As they flew off, the ship changed course and came after them.

"What do we do now?" Hunk asked out loud. "Now we have those aliens chasing us!"

"They're not attacking us though," Pidge said, the observation seeming strange. "They're just chasing…"

"How are we supposed to get away?" Lance asked. "They're catching up to us, and fast."

True to his word, the pursuing ship was gaining on them, even in its damaged state. Before long it would collide with them.

As if it was an answer to his question, a glowing portal formed in the stars in front of them. Kagome exhaled sharply as the aura surrounded her. It… felt bizarre, to say the least.

"What is that?" Hunk asked.

"It's a portal," Kagome said.

"The lion wants us to go through it," Lance said, and he looked around at the rest of them. "I dunno… you guys?"

"We should trust the lion," Shiro said. "It knows more than us."

"The lion wants to get us to a safer area," Kagome said after a moment. She could feel the lion's desire to go through it. It was trying to take them to safety. "It seems like that safe area is on the other side of the portal."

Lance nodded. "Alright," he said. "Looks like we're all ditching class tomorrow."

He piloted them into the wormhole, a sharp light swallowing the lion whole as they were transported to a new area. The turbulence of their trip took a toll on them, and they came to a halt once coming through the other side. The ship that had been after them was gone. It seemed like it hadn't been able to follow them through the portal.

Hunk doubled over and vomited, leaning up for only a second to whimper out a feeble, "sorry," before doubling back over and vomiting again.

"I'm surprised it took you this long," Pidge said. Kagome put a supportive hand on Hunk's back, rubbing small circles to help calm him some.

"There, there," she said calmly. Kagome looked up at the others as she continued to pat Hunk. "Everyone else okay?" she asked.

They nodded yes, and she let out a sigh of relief. They began to head towards a planet in the distance, the lion taking them there.

"Guys, am I the only one questioning letting a robotic cat take us someplace we don't know?" Hunk asked as he slowly got back upright. "I mean, we let it take us through some random wormhole."

"It got us away from an alien warship, didn't it?" Lance said.

"If you haven't noticed, we're _in_ an alien warship," Keith responded with a frown.

"What's the matter?" Lance taunted, "you scared?"

Keith deadpanned, "with you in control? I'm terrified.".

"Alright, stop it you two," Shiro sighed. "None of us are happy about this, but we're here. What's done is done, we need to figure out what's next."

"Shiro's right," Kagome said, arms over her chest. "Things are kinda weird, but we need to cooperate if we wanna make it through this. No being at each other's throats."

"Where are we headed, Lance?" Shiro asked.

"Down there," he said. "The lion isn't speaking to me anymore, but look down there. There's a castle. I think we're supposed to go there."

The lion landed in the courtyard, and finally relaxed into a seated position. It let them out, and they all came together in a huddle as they looked up at the castle.

"Okay," Shiro looked at them, "let's go. Keep your guard up," he said.

"Is there something wrong?" Pidge asked, but Shiro shook his head.

"My crew was captured by aliens, and I'm not going to let it happen again," Shiro said, and the group stepped away from the lion. Before they could get far, the lion stood up again and roared. The doors to the castle opened as it let out its roar, and after a moment of hesitation, they headed towards the now-opened entrance.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Four

* * *

As they entered the castle, Kagome felt the dull pulse of sleeping auras. Without intending to, she had taken the lead and had been guiding the rest of the group down the halls. The rest followed her as she silently took the lead with Kirara trotting alongside her.

Wall Torches lit up as they went down the hallways, giving off a faint glimmer of light in the otherwise dark castle. They eventually came across the room where Kagome could feel the faint pulse of the auras she was sensing, but no one was visible. Kagome frowned as the rest filed into the room behind her. She looked around for any trace of someone, something, but only found nothing. After a bit more concentrating, she was able to figure out where the auras originated from. They came from under the floor they stood on, hidden out of the way for whatever reason.

The auras felt undeniably weak, so much so that it was unnatural. Whatever held them must do something to block outside forces from picking up on the auras. However, she wasn't like most others, and she was able to pick up on what others would simply bypass without realizing it.

Kagome looked around for anything out of place, precise eyes trailing over the floor for anything that looked different from the rest. She eventually found what she was looking for. Along the ground, in a circle, were several round rises in the floor. The rise of the bumps along the flat surface was barely visible. The only thing setting them apart from the rest of the floor was the thin line separating it from the surrounding floor.

The auras she felt seemed to be coming from them.

"Where are we?"

Kagome looked up when Hunk asked the question.

"It sorta looks like a control room," Pidge said as she went towards the center of the room. While she was looking at the console, the bumps on the floor lifted, the things hidden underfoot rising as the console activated. Kirara cocked her head to the side as the pods rose from the floor, tails twitching in a curious rhythm.

"... there are people inside those things," Kagome said, her voice carrying through the stunned-silent room.

Now that the pods were above ground, she could feel the auras much clearer. One was a soft pink with white swirls intertwined together. It was… uncommon. Two-toned auras were often rare, as most auras were typically a single color. The other one was a warm orange.

Lance walked up to the pod closest to him and cupped his hands over the glass to try and peer inside. After a moment, he stepped back.

"They're alive, right?" Hunk asked, and Kagome nodded right after without missing a beat.

"Alive, yes," she said, pausing for a second. "They aren't awake yet… they're in some sort of stasis."

"Are these things sleep pods?" Pidge asked, looking back at the strange-looking cylindrical chambers when she heard Kagome say that.

"I guess so," Kagome said, moving away from the rest as she walked over to the pod secreting the pink and white aura. She set both palms on the glass and tried to feel for any pulse of awareness. "I wonder when they'll-!" Kagome was startled into silence when the glass abruptly vanished under her hands. Below it was a tall, lithe woman with long snow-white hair and warm-brown skin. Her eyes opened with a gasp falling from her lips, revealing shimmering blue eyes with purplish-pink pupils.

"Father!" The woman in the pod fell forward, stumbling into Kagome and taking her down with her. They landed on the floor with a thud, the white-haired woman landing on top of Kagome, who ended up taking the brunt of the fall.

The others stood surprised at the sudden shift. Kirara cocked her head to the side and mewed.

The woman slowly moved up so she wasn't putting her full weight on Kagome, and she looked down when she realized she had landed on a body as opposed to the floor.

Allura blinked, confused, when her gaze landed on the raven-haired girl under her. There was something about her that felt _familiar._ Her eyes met bright blue that seemed to shine even in the dim lighting. After a moment, Allura realized that she didn't know this person, and she pulled back from her, her heart hammering in her chest.

As she stood up, she realized that the girl wasn't the only stranger there. Allura stepped back when she spotted the others present. She glared and sized them up. "Who are you? What are you doing in my castle?" she demanded, "and where is King Alfor?"

Shiro helped Kagome up off the ground, eyeing the woman who had fallen from the pod. "We were brought here by a blue lion that we found on our planet," he said, taking the lead.

"The blue lion?" Allura glared at him. "Why do you have the blue lion? Where is its paladin?" She froze a second later, glancing down at her feet as an ill feeling burrowed in her chest. "Unless… how long has it been?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Shiro said. The troubled expression on her face made him frown. "Why don't you tell us your name? Maybe we can help you."

She spared him a quick glance as she walked past him. "I am Princess Allura of planet Altea." She went up to the control panel and placed her hands on it. It activated with her touch. "I need to figure out how long we've been asleep…"

Not long after Allura focused on the console, the second sleep pod opened and out tumbled an orange-haired man with a bushy mustache. When he got back on his feet, he noticed the group of strangers standing around. "T-Trespassers!" he shouted out, although it got no response from Allura, who was still focused at the console.

Coran looked from face to face, figuring if Allura was calm then that the new faces were nothing to worry about. That didn't stop him looking each of them over. It wasn't long in his examination of each one that his eyes landed on Kagome, crouching and petting the two-tailed cat at her feet. Something about her struck him with instant familiarity. She wasn't like the other humans in her company, but he couldn't put a finger on what set her apart from them.

Allura audibly gasped, and Coran instantly looked towards the princess, eyes filled with worry. "What is it?"

"We've been asleep for the past ten-thousand years!" Allura exclaimed, her expression and voice weighed down with dread. She was silent for a while before finally turning from the console. "Coran… Altea is gone, and so are the rest of the planets in our solar system. They've been destroyed." She closed her eyes when she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Father is… Father's gone, and so is our entire civilization." When she opened her eyes next, her tears were replaced with rage. "Zarkon!"

The single name uttered with absolute disdain made Shiro's head pound with a sharp sting. An image of a face flashed through his mind, and he looked at Allura, taking a step towards her. "Zarkon?"

She looked back at him, as did the rest in the room. "He was the king of the Galra ten-thousand years ago," she said. "A cruel, vile creature."

"I can remember now," Shiro said, and Kagome closed the distance between him and her to place a supportive hand on his arm. "I was his prisoner."

"He's still alive?" Allura gasped. "That can't be possible!"

"I can't explain it," Shiro said, "but he's still alive. He's searching for some weapon called Voltron."

Allura's eyes narrowed when he said that. "He's after Voltron because it's the one thing strong enough to destroy him." She looked between the many faces with her. "That's exactly why we're going to find it before he does."

Kagome scooped Kirara up in her arms as she focused on Allura. "How are we supposed to find the rest of the lions?" she asked. "The blue lion was on Earth, but where are the others?"

Allura let her eyes meet the blue of Kagome's, and she nodded. "Right." Allura turned to give a once-over to the rest. Before she could say anything, her ears twitched when she heard faint squeaking coming from one of the sleep pods. She turned to find it, letting out a faint gasp at the sight of the four little Altean mice at the bottom of her pod. "I can't believe it," she said as she knelt down to scoop them up. "Coran, look! It seems like there's a little bit of Altea left!"

The mice squeaked and climbed up onto her shoulder, burrowing in her hair. She recalled Kagome's question, but before she could say anything, an alarm started blaring. Kirara growled as her fur bristled, and she jumped from Kagome's arms and stood poised for a challenge, though she kept her smaller form up.

"What's that?" Hunk asked, covering his ears as worry lined his eyes. "Oh man, it sounds really bad!"

"A Galra ship has set its tracker on us!" Coran said. "How'd it find us so quickly?"

Kagome frowned. "Maybe it's the same one from before? The one that came after the lion?"

"How long will it take for them to get here?" Shiro asked, and Coran looked at him before silently ticking away on his fingers.

"At the speed they're going?" He hummed for a second. "Hmm… I suppose a few days?"

"It doesn't matter," Allura said as she shook her head. "Let them come! By the time they arrive, we'll have reformed Voltron! Together, we will put an end to Zarkon's empire." Kagome's question came back to the front of her mind, and she nodded. "Right, the rest of the lions," she looked at Kagome. "You've found the blue lion, but we still need the black, white, red, yellow, and green lions."

"Princess, how are we supposed to find the other five lions?" Shiro asked.

"King Alfor had the lions connected to Allura's life force," Coran said, urging the group to follow behind him as they gathered in the bridge of the Castleship, standing underneath the large crystal overhead. "Allura and Allura alone is the only way we can find the rest of the lions."

A sea of stars filled the room as Allura activated the console. They stayed still as a holographic map of the cosmos saturated the room.

"Woah! Cool!" Lance exclaimed as the illusion covered the entire space of the room.

Pidge looked around before turning back to Coran. "Are these coordinates?" she asked. "It looks like the black lion is in the same place as the blue lion."

"Right you are!" Coran said.

"The black lion was hidden in the castle," Allura said.

"King Alfor was concerned the most about keeping the black lion out of Zarkon's hands, and so, he made sure to lock it inside the castle. It can only be retrieved once the remaining are present together," Coran explained.

"As you've already experienced with the blue lion, the lions choose their pilots," Allura said. "It is a mystical bond that cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot must be reflected in the lion, and together they form a bond incapable of being explained." She focused on the black lion first, turning towards Shiro a second later. "The black lion is the head of Voltron. A born leader and someone always in control is the only one capable of piloting it. Someone who's team will follow without question or hesitation. Shiro, you will be the black lion's pilot."

Shiro nodded and Allura moved on to the green lion next. Her eyes landed on Pidge.

"The green lion is of an inquisitive spirit and will only accept a pilot of powerful intellect and daring personality," Allura said. "Pidge, you will be the pilot of the green lion." She paused for a moment and focused on the blue lion, looking at Lance the next second. "It seems the blue lion has already chosen its pilot, but the blue lion takes-"

"Oh, let me guess," Lance cut Allura off mid-sentence. "The blue lion takes the most handsome pilot of the bunch?"

Allura glared at Lance, expression contorted in annoyance before she took a breath and turned to the yellow lion. " The yellow lion is caring and kind. It will accept a pilot who's capable of putting the needs of others above their own, someone who's heart is full of warmth." She looked at Hunk then. "As the leg of Voltron, you will lift and brace the team."

Hunk looked like he doubted her words, and she smiled as she went on to the next lion. "The red lion is quite… temperamental," she said. "It's the most difficult of the bunch to master. While it's more agile than the rest, it's the most unstable. It'll only accept a pilot who's guided more by instinct than just pure skill." She turned towards Keith. "Keith, you will be the pilot of the red lion."

"Huh, him really?" Lance asked. Keith glared at him, to which Lanced glared back at him. Allura ignored them and focused on the last lion.

She looked to Kagome, still unable to get past or even place the reason she felt so familiar to her. After a moment, Allura shook her head, reminding herself that now wasn't the time. "The white lion is drawn to a pilot who is patient and trusting, yet strong and resolute," Allura said. "Kagome, you will be the white lion's pilot. As the body and heart of Voltron, you will be the very center that holds the team together."

She looked over the lions and her decisions on their pilots, and she nodded to herself. "I'm able to locate all of the lions except for the red lion," Allura said as she focused on the map spread out around them. "Something must be wrong with the castle. After all, it's been dormant for ten-thousand years just like Coran and me," Allura said.

"Don't worry, Princess," Coran said, "we'll locate the red lion soon."

Allura nodded. "You're right."

"Alright," Shiro looked at the group with him. "We're running out of time. Pidge and I will go find the green lion. Lance, you and Hunk will go find the yellow lion. Kagome, take Keith and go get the white lion." As he listed off the pairs, they looked at each other and shrugged, going along with his choices. "When we're all back, we'll see how locating the red lion is coming along," Shiro said.

"In the meantime, I'll focus on prepping the castle's defenses," Allura said. "I'm sure they'll be needed."

"Give me a few moments, and I'll get the pods ready and load the coordinates to the green and white lions on them," Coran said. A second later he was heading off.

It wasn't long before everyone was set and ready to go. Kagome left Kirara behind with Allura and Coran for the time being, letting her take a break from the constant space-travel.

"She's quite cute," Allura said as Kagome handed Kirara off to her. "Don't worry, Kagome. I'll look after her for you."

Kagome smiled. "Thanks… I'm sure being shaken around so much in the blue lion probably wore her out," she said as she looked at Kirara curled up in Allura's arms. She looked up a second later. "Before I forget, she does have a second form. A much larger form. I doubt she'll take it, but just giving you the heads up," Kagome added on with a laugh.

Allura nodded and waved her off as she went to join Keith, and together the pair made their way to the pod they'd use to get to the white lion.

* * *

The planet the white lion was hidden on was calm and peaceful. A pink sky was overhead with white clouds overlooking the vibrantly colored ground. They stood beside each other as Kagome tried to feel for its aura. Before long she felt it, and she led them off in the direction she was getting pulled to.

It was quiet between them as they walked, both parties looking over their surroundings. After a few minutes of undisturbed silence, Kagome glanced at Keith, watching him for a second, before finally disrupting the silence.

"It's kinda nice here," she said, and Keith turned to her when he heard her voice. "Though… I don't know what's making the sky pink, or if it's something we should be worried about."

Keith looked up at the sky and nodded. "It seems like it's uninhabited," he said.

Kagome shook her head. "There's definitely things here," she said. "I can feel them, but they don't appear harmful to us so there's not really anything to worry about."

"You're pretty calm for everything that's happened so far," he said, and Kagome tried to stifle a laugh, only to fail.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda am," she said then. She looked at her feet as she walked. This wasn't the first time she'd been in a situation like this. Sure, it wasn't the same on many levels, but, at the same time, it bore similarities to her trips through the well. A calm smile was on her face as she looked back at Keith, and he suddenly felt warm. "What can I say?" she hummed thoughtfully. "I'm no stranger to weird situations."

"How do you know Shiro?" he asked, and Kagome tilted her head to the side, blinking owlishly. "I mean, you seem pretty close to him."

Kagome thought over his question for another moment before she shrugged. "He's my friend," she finally said after a moment's contemplation. "He found out about Kirara and he helped me hide her," she said. "I guess… we just became friends after that?" she mumbled thoughtfully.

They came to a halt at a stream of purplish water, and the pair looked around for a way around it. After a minute or two of searching separately, Kagome heard Keith call for her.

"Hey, Kagome, over here!"

She followed the pulse of his aura to where he was waiting, and she saw a few rocks spaced unevenly through the water. She understood what they were for, and she followed him in hopping from rock to rock.

When she got to the third to last rock, Kagome let out a squeak when her foot hit a slick spot on the rock's surface. "Eek!" Keith turned at hearing the noise, his hand shooting out to try and grab Kagome's sleeve. Though it was full of good intentions, it only served to pull both of them in the water.

After landing with a small splash, they sat in the slow-moving current for several quiet moments, only for a laugh from Kagome's end to break it up.

"Pfft- hahaha!" Kagome tried to suppress her laugh, only to fail miserably. Keith glared at her, expression sour, as they stayed in the water. A second later he was standing up.

"Next time, remind me to let you fall," he said as he waded through the calf-deep water the rest of the way.

Kagome got up next, rolling her eyes when he said that. "Oh come on, don't be mean," she said as she followed suit. She hopped up on dry land and worked on wringing some of the water out of her hoodie and skirt underneath. "I'm happy you at least tried," she said then.

Keith turned back to her with a half-smile on his face. "Come on, let's go."

Kagome trotted back up alongside him and they began back down the path to where she could feel the white lion.

After about ten more minutes of walking, they eventually came across a hazy, white barrier. It looked almost like fog, but when they walked into it, it felt heavy, like gravity had just increased around them.

"It's not much further," Kagome said as she felt it calling to her. She looked at Keith. "I'm going ahead."

He nodded in response. "I'll be here when you're done."

"Right!" Kagome said as she headed off into the heavy haze. The further she went, the heavier it felt. However, as she stopped in front of the lion, the weight went away.

Just barely she could see a white, translucent barrier from inside the fog, and she approached it. She got to it and paused, looking up at the barrier she could feel the white lion behind.

She took a deep breath and pressed her hands to the barrier, and she felt it flicker under her palms. There was a low growl from inside it, and two eyes took on a sharp glow. The fog around her dissipated entirely, and the white lion loomed down at her.

Kagome looked up at it and smiled. "Okay, let's get you back to the castle," she whispered.

* * *

"Welcome back everyone," Allura said as the team returned, filing in one after the other. "How did it go out there?"

"It was awful," Lance groaned, rubbing the small of his back. "I nearly puked out there! Man, I felt like Hunk," he said, jabbing a finger towards the other guy.

"Hey, think about how I felt," Hunk responded with a low whine. "So much better now that I'm not spinning…"

Pidge looked from them and up to Shiro, grinning a second later. "We had a rough time, too," she said. He grinned back at her comment before turning to Kagome and Keith.

"How'd it go for you two?" he asked. Kagome blinked and glanced at Keith. A second later, she smiled.

"We had a great time!" she exclaimed.

"We fell in a river," Keith deadpanned, glaring at her.

Shiro looked them over and rose an eyebrow. "That explains the damp clothes," he said. Still… he looked between the two and smiled.

Keith didn't have the easiest time connecting with other people, and if anyone could manage to connect with him, then he knew it'd be Kagome. Something about her personality drew people of all types to her. Friendliness and acceptance practically radiated off of her. Even after all the new information about her came to light, she was still the friendly, warm girl he knew hid a cat in her bedroom at the Garrison.

She was a friend to everyone, but she had the habit of keeping people at arms-length away. After today, he realized that he was one of those people kept at arms-length, too. Though they were friends, there were still many things she'd kept hidden. He realized he actually knew very little about her.

Shiro looked from the rest, finally turning to Allura. He saw her with Kirara curled in her arms, still asleep. "Have you been able to locate the red lion?" Shiro asked as he walked up to Allura.

"Allura was just able to locate it, actually!" Coran said. "We have a bit of good news and, well… bad news," he added on.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Well, the red lion happens to be quite close to us already! The bad news is that it's onboard the Galra ship inbound for us. It seems like they're orbiting Arus, the planet we're currently stuck on."

"They're already here?" Shiro asked.

Coran nodded, his smile flickering as he looked at his hands. "Yes, I suppose my calculations must've been off. Finger counting can be quite risky to rely on, I suppose."

"Okay, we just need a plan," Kagome said. "If we-" She was cut off by a transmission being broadcast to the castle, and she snapped her mouth shut as she turned to face the screen. The others followed suit, watching as a purple-furred alien appeared.

"Princess Allura," he spoke, "this is Commander Sendak of the Galra empire. I speak on behalf of my Emperor Zarkon. I come to claim the Lions of Voltron. Surrender them, or I will destroy the planet you are on."

The transmission cut off as soon as he said his piece, and a tense silence fell over them. Shiro looked around. "Okay everyone, now's not the time to panic."

"It's _not_?" Hunk asked. "You just saw that too, right? T-That purple guy is driving his battleship right to us! We only have five lions!

"Well, actually, we only have four working lions," Pidge said. "We can't get the black lion until we have the red one."

"Ooh right!" Hunk groaned, "thank you, Pidge! Four working lions and a castle that's at least ten-thousand years old."

"Well, the castle is actually ten-thousand-six-hundred years old!" Coran said. "My grandfather built it when-!"

"Okay, the castle is over ten-thousand years old," Hunk said, cutting Coran off before he could end up telling the full story on the origins of the castle. "I-I don't know about you guys, but right _now_ seems like the perfect time to panic!"

"Things look bad, yes, but if we panic things won't get better," Kagome said, looking at Hunk. "We need to stay calm so we can think of a way to get out of this."

"Coran, doesn't the castle have a particle barrier?" Allura asked, "can't we just activate that for cover?"

Coran hummed, thinking it over before shaking his head. "I doubt the particle barrier would hold out long against Sendak's ion cannon. It's been a long time, and I assume Galra technology's only improved in these ten-thousand years."

"I know you said no to, but I'm seriously panicking," Hunk said. "Oh _man_ , things don't look good for us."

"We just need to think of a plan of action," Shiro said. "Everyone take a deep breath and think. We don't have much time, but if we put our heads together, then we can't fail."

"Alright, I'll say it: Wormhole." Lance looked around the room. "Pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day."

"That sounds good," Hunk said. He felt eyes on him and he rubbed the back of his neck. "L-Look, we tried to find all the lions, but we don't have them all. We can't form Voltron without the other two."

"Alright, it's settled then!" Lance said.

"Absolutely not," Kagome frowned, folding her arms over her chest.

"Kagome's right," Pidge said. "We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will just keep taking innocent people as prisoners until we stop them!"

"Well, maybe Sendak will follow us if we leave?" Hunk suggested. "Like on Earth! They left Earth alone and followed us."

"If we leave, Sendak could just destroy the planet and _then_ follow us," Keith said. "I'm with Kagome and Pidge. We can't leave. Staying is our only option."

Lance glared at Keith. "If we stay, we'll get creamed! We're leaving."

"We're _staying!_ "

"Leaving!"

"You guys, knock it off," Shiro said. "Fighting is going to get us nowhere." He looked at Allura. "Right, Princess, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra before, and you know what can happen better than any of us do. What do you think we should do?"

Allura looked around the room and frowned, digging her fingers in her dress. "I… I don't know," she whispered. Her heart was telling her to say and fight, but she couldn't figure out if it was the right thing for them to do.

Coran saw the troubled expression on her face, and he walked over towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and offered her a small, supportive smile. "Princess… Maybe your father can help?"

"My father?" Allura's eyes widened when Coran said that. "But Coran, father's-"

"Come with me, Allura," Coran carefully guided her to the exit. He paused before leaving, glancing back at the rest. "You all just sit tight. We'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

True to his word, Coran arrived back with Allura maybe ten minutes after they left. When they came back, Allura had donned a change of clothes, swapping out her dress for a spacesuit.

She looked over each one before nodding. "You six were brought here for a reason," Allura said. "You are meant to become the paladins of the lions, and you are meant to reform Voltron to take down Zarkon once and for all. We cannot run. We cannot defy our destiny. We must fight for those still in need, and we must fight for those already gone!"

She led them to the castle's armory, waving them all in behind her. First, she urged them towards the suits hanging up, each one a color corresponding with the lions.

"Your suits of armor," she said.

They were given their armor to put on, and once they were dressed Allura motioned to a long, rectangular stand a little further in the back of the room.

"These are the official weapons of the Paladin," Allura said. "The bayard takes a distinct shape for each of its wielders." All but the black bayard were there, and Allura gave Shiro an apologetic look. "It seems that the black bayard was lost with its original paladin," she said.

Kagome picked up the white bayard as the others picked up their own. She jumped when it took on a white glow, soon enough shifting into a longbow. The handle of the bayard was in the middle of the bow's curve. A string of light pink that glimmered was her drawstring. Pink lines ran along the bow's curve.

"Oh _that_ figures," she muttered dryly under her breath once she realized the shape her bayard had taken. She wasn't surprised at all.

* * *

They regrouped back at the bridge of the castle to think of a plan.

"Alright," Allura shook her head. Everyone had dressed in their armor, and all they needed to do was retrieve the red lion from the approaching ship. "Keith, our first priority is that we retrieve the red lion from Sendak's ship. You'll need to get on board and locate it."

"How am I supposed to know where it is?" Keith asked. "It's not exactly a small ship."

"You'll be able to feel it," Kagome said, giving him a supportive smile.

"Yeah, remember when you felt that crazy energy in the desert?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. You made fun of me for it," Keith glared at him.

"Yeah, and I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that," Lance said. "You'll feel it and be able to track it down."

"You must remember that the red lion is… rather temperamental," Allura cautioned. "Its respect must be earned before it will accept you."

Keith nodded, and Shiro cleared his throat so eyes were on him.

"Here's the plan," he began. "Since the Galra already knows that we have the blue and yellow lions, we're going to use them as decoys. Hunk, Lance, you two will act as if you're surrendering." The pair nodded, and Shiro looked at the others. "Meanwhile, we'll use the green and white lions to sneak aboard the ship without Sendak realizing. Kagome and Pidge will guard the exit and keep watch while Keith and I go find the red lion. While we do that, Hunk and Lance, you two find a way to take care of that ion cannon." Shiro glanced over the group around him. "Everyone clear on the plan?"

He was answered with nods, and the plan was kicked into motion.

As Lance and Hunk went out, acting as decoys, Kagome and Pidge snuck aboard the ship with Shiro and Keith in tow. Once they regrouped inside the ship, Shiro couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity when he saw their surroundings.

A painful flash seared through his brain, and he clutched his head as memories of this ship returned to the front of his mind.

"Shiro? What's wrong?" Kagome reached for his wrist, carefully setting her hand on his arm to draw him back to reality. "What do you remember?"

"I… I've been here before," he said as he caught his breath. The pain was still there, dully throbbing as he looked around. "After we were taken off Kerberos, we were brought here."

"Wait!" Pidge quietly exclaimed, "so that means the rest of your crew might be held here still, right? We have to get them!"

"Pidge, we don't have time for that right now," Shiro said. "We have to find the red lion and get back to Arus."

"We can't just leave innocent prisoners trapped here!" Pidge cried back, eyes narrowed with determination. "We have to help them!"

"Pidge, sometimes in war you have to make hard choices," Shiro said softly. "It's not easy, but we need to look at the bigger picture. Our priority is finding the red lion."

"No!" Pidge protested vehemently. "Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones taken on the Kerberos mission with you. I'm not going to turn away when they might be so close! I've been searching everywhere for them. I refuse to give up!"

"I- Alright," Shiro said, giving in. "But you're not going alone. I still remember where they kept prisoners. I'm going to come with you." He looked at Kagome and Keith. "Minor change of plans. Keith, Kagome, you two go find the red lion while Pidge and I go check for prisoners."

Kagome and Keith shared a look, nodding a second after. "Shiro. you and Pidge be careful. We'll get the red lion and get back to the others."

Shiro nodded, and he and Pidge went off in the opposite direction, leaving behind Kagome and Keith. They head a different way, running down a corridor until meeting a corridor that splits off into two directions.

The faint sound of approaching footsteps stole Kagome's attention, and she snatched Keith by the wrist, pulling him down the direction she could feel the faint pulse of the red lion's aura.

"This way," she said, and they took off down the hall. "It's not strong, but I can feel a little bit of the lion's aura. It has to be down this way somewhere!"

After a little bit of running and ducking to hide from patrolling sentries, they came to a door. It opened for them, and they hurried inside. Inside was the red lion, and Kagome hung back by the door as Keith ran over to the lion.

Though he tried, the red lion wouldn't respond to him. It remained behind its red, translucent barrier. It stubbornly ignored him, even as he tapped on the barrier.

As Kagome waited for any change in the red lion, the door to the room they were hidden in opened and sentries began to enter.

"Looks like we've been found out," Kagome called over her shoulder as she manifested her bayard into her bow. Keith turned too, his bayard taking shape as he went to join her.

Kagome pulled on the string of her bow, and an arrow of pink light formed. She aimed and fired, the sentries it hit freezing in place as if time had stopped for them. Keith knocked down the ones firing at them, throwing them into the frozen ones as more replaced the ones they took down.

"They're not gonna stop," Keith growled and lunged at more, and Kagome nodded in agreement. They aimed at her, and she summoned her shield to defend herself. When she saw her opening, she dropped her shield and aimed again, firing another arrow of glimmering pink and halting more sentries in place.

The two very quickly got overwhelmed as more and more sentries filed into the room. They both got knocked back, Kagome hitting the wall behind her while Keith was knocked back into the control panel. The airlocks opened and the sentries went flying out into the black abyss of space.

Kagome was forcibly pulled towards the open exit, and Keith turned in time to see her follow the sentries out.

"Kagome hang on!"

Keith let go of what he grounded himself with, pivoting around and lunging for Kagome. No matter how he tried, he wasn't able to reach her as she drifted out further. They weren't out there long, however. Keith was able to see as the white lion shot through the starry space, scooping up Kagome in its mouth right as the same was done to him by the red lion.

Once inside, he let go of the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

They were okay.

* * *

They all regrouped back at the castle, bringing the other five lions together so they could get to the black lion that was still locked inside the caste. The door sealing the black lion slowly opened, allowing Shiro to enter. Finally, the six lions of Voltron had their new paladins.

Allura breathed a sigh of relief when Shiro was accepted, but she didn't have much time to relax. The castle's alarms began to blare loudly, once again bringing the reminder of Sendak's approaching ship.

"There's no time to waste," Allura said, looking at the group with her. "Everyone to your lions. We need Voltron now!"

"Right!" In unison, the paladins went back to their lions, and they were launched from the castle. Not long after they left, the ion cannon on the ship took aim at the castle and hit the barrier encasing it.

Allura felt her balance tip, but before she could hit the ground, she heard the low rumble and something caught her from the side. She blinked in confusion and looked for what had caught her, only for her to suddenly be face to face with Kirara's larger form. Taken by surprise at first, she nearly let out a startled yelp, but she soon recalled Kagome's earlier warning.

Allura smiled and gently rubbed Kirara's head.

"Princess, are you alright?" Coran asked, and she glanced at him as Kirara carefully stood up with her.

"Yes," she said, resting her hand on Kirara's back for support in case they were hit again. "But I worry the castle won't be if we get hit again."

"Man those Galra guys sure are quick at repair," Hunk mumbled. Allura heard him from the communication device in her suit, and she frowned.

"I can give you cover with the castle's defenses for a little while, but you have to come together and form Voltron if we want to get out of this," Allura said.

"With each hit we take, the barrier gets weaker," Coran added on as an afterthought. "Once that shield is down, the castle has no more line of defense."

Hunk groaned from inside the yellow lion. "Oh jeez, no pressure," he grumbled.

Kagome sighed and rested her head on the back of her seat. "Hunk, cheer up some," she tried to encourage. Her words fell flat when the barrier was hit with another blast from the cannon. The barrier flickered some but stayed up.

"Alright, listen up team," Shiro said, his voice carrying through the communication device built into their suits. "We've got to give it all we've got. I know it looks bad, but if we work together we can do this!"

"Right!"

She glanced around the inside of the white lion and sighed. The rest of the teams' agreement fell silent as she asked, "so how exactly are we supposed to form Voltron?"

"That's a good question," Shiro responded.

"I don't see a form into a giant robot button anywhere in here," Hunk said.

"Let's just move and figure it out," Kagome said as she saw the incoming fighter jets. "We've got company, remember?"

They were attacked by the fighter jets as they darted around trying to evade and figure out how to form Voltron with their lions. She heard Pidge huff from the green lion.

"Are you kidding me?" Pidge growled as she snapped the green lion around, using its maw to grip the wing of one of the jets. She then flung it into another one. "Can't they give us a minute or two so we can get a grip on this?!"

Keith fired the red lion's tail cannon, destroying two more of the pursuing jets. "We can't keep running around like this! We've got to do something."

"Maybe if we- _COMBINE_!" Hunk slammed the yellow lion into the red lion, knocking red to the side as Keith let out a startled shout.

"Hunk, what the hell?!" Keith shouted back as he got the red lion stable again.

"Looks like that isn't how," Hunk mumbled when the attempt fell flat.

"I thought it was hilarious," Lance said.

Kagome sighed and gripped the controls tighter, letting her eyes close as she focused. "There has to be a way…" she whispered under her breath so the rest wouldn't hear. After staying like that for a few seconds, droning out the others as they spoke back and forth, she could hear the white lion communicating to her. A second later, her eyes snapped open as an idea came to her. "That's it, isn't it?"

She didn't have time to say anything else before she was suddenly slammed to the side and into the rocks when she was hit by the fighter jet's shots.

"Kagome what are you doing?!" Keith shouted at her.

She blinked and urged the white lion back onto its feet right as another barrage of strikes went flying at her. Before they could hit, however, a stark white barrier encased the white lion, the attacks bouncing off and leaving no damage. "I have an idea," she said as the barrier fell, bounding back to the others.

"Let's hear it," Shiro said.

"Follow me," she said as she took off. The others followed pursuit, each of them taking flight alongside each other. "We have to be united, and our hearts have to be in sync," she said.

"How do we do that?" Lance asked.

"I dunno," Kagome responded. "Maybe think about how you don't wanna die like this?"

"I mean, I _definitely_ don't want to die flying in a large robotic cat in space," Hunk said. "A-And I hope you guys don't want to either."

"Alright, unity. Let's try it," Shiro said. "Sounds like a plan."

As they flew through the sky, trying to connect with each other, Sendak's ship prepared another strike to the castle. It hit the barrier and knocked the defenses down, leaving the castle open to attacks.

Sendak prepared another strike to the now-defenseless castle, causing them to split up on their focus.

"We have to do something!" Pidge shouted. "He's gonna destroy the castle."

"No, he won't!" Shiro responded. "We can do this, I know we can. I believe in us. I refuse to give up, we can't give up. The universe is relying on us. We are its only hope. If we fail, then there's no stopping Zarkon and his army!"

Kagome felt a pull in her chest, and she silently wondered if it was just her feeling it. She held back asking as the others let out a chorus of agreement. She felt some sort of pull on her lion towards the others, and they all took off towards the sky.

The next thing she knew, they were a part of something greater than themselves. They were united in a single figure. Together as Voltron, they struck the ion cannon on the ship and diverted its path away from the defenseless castle.

"No way!" Lance cried out as they came to a halt in the sky.

"I can't believe this," Keith responded, his awe felt by the rest of the team.

"We did it! We formed Voltron," Pidge exclaimed in excitement. "This is so cool!"

"Alright team," Shiro spoke, reeling the rest down. "We can celebrate once the battle's won! Let's get that cannon!"

With combined effort, they managed to destroy Sendak's ship and save Arus and the castle from destruction. After the battle came to an end, they regrouped with Allura and Coran in front of the castle. The lions sat in formation as the paladins were finally able to relax on stable ground.

"Wonderful work, Paladins," Allura exclaimed as she met with the rest, Coran and Kirara in tow behind her. Kirara barreled up to Kagome, nudging her stomach with her large head and nearly sweeping her off the ground with a joyous rumble. Allura laughed at the sight. "I think Kirara thinks the same as I do," she said then.

"We did it, you guys," Shiro said, looking over the group with him proudly. "I don't know how we did it, but we did."

"I was mostly panicking the whole time," Hunk admitted. "I know you said not to, but I couldn't help it," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"We know," Keith responded, and Hunk laughed. "Did you really have to slam into the red lion?"

"I thought it might work," he responded sheepishly.

"We were able to do it because we came together," Kagome said as she rubbed Kirara's head. "Our souls were in sync because we wanted to save the castle and this planet."

Allura nodded, "right." She smiled at Kagome. "We've managed to win this battle, but this is far from the last one," she said then. "Zarkon won't stop coming after the lions."

"It's good you six look like you know what you're doing," Coran said, twirling his mustache with a hum of approval. "You are going to have to come together to form Voltron again and again."

"Wait- what?" Hunk frowned at that news.

Lance nodded, his expression in sync with Hunk's. "We barely survived this one."

Coran folded his arms and nodded his head, smiling at the group. "It won't be easy, being defenders of the universe, but it's something that must be done. There are countless people relying on Voltron."

"You know guys? It sounds kinda nice," Shiro said, and he glanced over to the black lion. The rest followed suit, turning to face the lions. "I know we can do this," he said then.

As the rest headed into the castle to get some much-needed rest, Kagome saw Pidge hang back and sit down. She frowned and walked over to where Pidge sat down. Kirara followed her.

Pidge jumped and looked up when Kagome sat down beside her. Kirara sat on her other side, letting out a low rumble as she set her head on Pidge's lap. She didn't put her full weight down, just enough for Pidge to feel it. A small smile pulled at Pidge's lips, and she began to pet Kirara's head.

"I… take it you didn't find your father and brother?" Kagome asked after a few moments of silence.

Pidge sunk her fingers into Kirara's fur as she shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. "We brought the prisoners here for recovery, but my family wasn't among them."

Kagome set her arm over Pidge's shoulders, and she tugged her into a half-hug. Pidge was surprised at first, but she soon relaxed into the warm touch. It felt comforting, like a hug from her family was.

"You're not doing this alone," Kagome said. "I'll help you find your family. I promise."

A small smile lifted on Pidge's lips. "You're right," she said as she nodded. "Thank you, Kagome."

Kagome offered her a warm smile. "Anytime," she said. "After all, with all these guys around, us girls really should have each other's backs, right?"

Pidge felt her eyes widen when Kagome said that. She looked at her, startled. "H-How'd you know?"

Kagome stood up and held a finger to her lips, a silent promise to keep her secret. She headed back into the castle, and Pidge eventually stood up to follow her. Kirara walked alongside her as they went to join the others.

* * *

It was late at night, and she was laying in her room aboard the castleship. Kirara was tucked into her pillow, sleeping soundly as Kagome looked up at the ceiling over her head.

The past two days replayed through her mind. Each event, one right after another with no pause. She was exhausted, and rightfully so, but she still couldn't fall asleep. She rolled onto her side and exhaled, letting her eyes fall closed.

The silence around her was comforting, and she slowly found herself dozing off.

_As she slept, a world of unfamiliar surroundings bloomed around her._

" _Azilu!"_

_She came to a halt where she was upon hearing the voice in the distance shout the name. She didn't know why, but it felt like they were calling her, and she couldn't help the reflex of stopping and waiting so the person heading over to her could catch up._

_Kagome frowned when he stopped a few feet away from her. Something about him seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place what it was. Warm-brown skin and white hair pulled back in a short ponytail were the first things she saw. He had a short, white beard and blue sickle-shaped markings right below his blue eyes._

" _Ah, finally," he let out a quiet sigh. "I almost thought you were ignoring me for a moment." He added on with a laugh, "wouldn't be the first time."_

_Kagome smiled, unable to help the curve of her lips as it happened. "Well maybe you should get to the point quicker," she began speaking, but she had no control of the words she said. It was almost like she was looking in on a memory, unable to do or change anything about it. "It gets boring just standing around, Alfor."_

_He spared her a mild glare before shaking his head. "Come with me. I need your assistance, Azilu."_

_She followed after him at his request, absentmindedly listening to him as he spoke to her. They walked past a reflective surface, and it drew her eyes to it. At once, she came to a halt, staring wide-eyed into the reflection looking back at her._

_Her reflection didn't look normal. Her hair was still the same raven color, and her eyes were still the same blue, but her pupils had become a pale rose pink. Just below her eyes on her cheekbones were ivory sickle-shaped marks._

_Kagome froze, raising a hand up to cup her cheek, slim fingers tracing the unfamiliar markings on her skin. Her companion seemed to notice her sudden halt, and he turned to her._

" _Azilu? What's wrong?"_

_She looked back at him, but as she did the world began to blur into a mash of white and many different hues of gray._

Kagome woke up with a jolt. She let out a choked gasp, and Kirara was up the same second, fur bristling as she looked for any sort of threat. After a quick look over of the room, no one was found, and Kirara looked up at Kagome with a curious meow.

Kagome got out of bed and dug around in the front pocket of her hoodie until her fingers closed around a round compact. She sank back down on the bed, letting a pink glow encase her fingers to give her some more light as she opened the circular mirror. She peered closely at her face, but no matter how hard she looked, there was no trace of the marks she'd seen on her in her dream.

Her fingers dragged along the skin under her eyes where the ivory marks had been in her dream, but she saw nothing but her normal complexion when she looked in her reflection. Kagome closed her eyes and let go of the breath she was holding. Kirara stood on her lap, meowing louder to get her attention. Kagome opened her eyes again, setting her mirror out of the way as she carefully picked Kirara up into her arms.

Kirara was looking up at her, worried. Kagome shook her head and laid back down, letting Kirara use her chest as a pillow.

She didn't know what her dream meant, but it looked like she wouldn't be getting much more rest.

The name Alfor returned to her memory and she frowned.

Wasn't that Allura's father's name?


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Five

* * *

She never got back to sleep after waking up during the night. Stuck on a precipice between boredom and exhaustion, Kagome turned to mediation to pass the time. She sat on the floor, legs folded as she steadied her breathing to an immaculate rhythm. As she centered herself, a pink glow swelled up around her, akin to a barrier but clinging firm to her skin.

She wasn't aware of how long she stayed like that, merely letting the silence saturate the room. After a long while, she felt pawing at her leg, and she opened one eye to spot Kirara looking up at her. Kagome looked around, silently wondering how long it'd been and if it was even sunrise yet.

"Mew!"

Kagome looked down at Kirara and eventually stood up. She combed her fingers through her hair before carefully working the long strands up into her messy bun. While she was still tired, her mediation had done some good in restoring her in a small bit. She closed her eyes when the memory of her dream returned to the front of her mind, and she shook her head.

She told herself it had to be a strange coincidence. Kagome absentmindedly traced her fingers over her cheekbones before she lowered her hands and glanced at her armor.

"I'm me," she whispered. "No one else."

Kirara blinked wide eyes as she looked up at Kagome. She remained still as Kagome dressed in her armor. A second after she was dressed, Kirara leaped up onto her shoulder and nudged her face with her cheek.

Kagome left her room and set off down the halls as she looked around. It was quiet, but she hadn't expected anyone else to be up just yet. In her walk, she ended up finding her way to the bridge. When she got there, she noticed Allura and Coran already in there.

"Morning you two," Kagome greeted them as she entered the bridge. The two Alteans turned when she spoke. Allura and Coran looked startled at seeing the ravenette come to join them.

"Oh! You're certainly up early. How long have you been awake?" Allura asked as she came over to Kagome. She was already dressed in her armor and had her bayard with her, and Allura felt proud. When Kagome abruptly looked away from her, Allura felt a frown dip her lips down, and she tried to hide it.

"For a while now. I'm an early riser," Kagome said. It technically wasn't a lie, and she didn't really want to say the truth. "What about you two?" Kagome asked, letting her hands rest on her hips and she went over to the two.

"We've been up for a long time now getting the castle back in working order," Coran said. "There's still a bit we need to get done, but we've managed to get a lot done already!

"That's great!" Kagome exclaimed, and Allura nodded in agreement.

"We were about to test the castle's alarm, so it'll be really loud in a few moments," Allura said. "Time to see how quick the other's react- Coran?''

"Ready when you are, Princess!" Coran said as he stood up. Kagome looked between the two of them as they triggered the castle's alarms. Even with Allura's warning, Kagome still jumped, and Kirara flung herself from her shoulders, growling with her fur standing on end.

" _ **Paladins, hurry! Zarkon's attacking!"**_

Allura's voice carried through the castle, just as the alarms did. Kagome stood beside her and Coran as they kept yelling things into the castle's speaker system.

The others arrived around the same time, with Shiro and Keith getting there the quickest and Pidge and Hunk staggering in a bit slower. Lance, however, looked to be a no-show.

"Time!" Coran exclaimed, glancing at Allura. He held something in his hand, and Kagome guessed it was some sort of timer.

"So I guess this wasn't a real attack," Shiro said as he looked at the three in front of them.

"No, but good thing it wasn't!" Allura said. She frowned and looked at the group. "How long did it take them to get here, Coran?"

"Seventy-five degrees!" he exclaimed, looking at them slightly disappointed. He caught his words after he said them, and he glanced back at the device in his hand. "Whoops. No, sorry, it seems this is a meat thermometer."

"It doesn't matter how long it was," Allura said, folding her arms over her chest. "It was too long. You always have to be prepared, because at any moment Zarkon can issue another attack on us." Allura threw an arm out at them. "Look at you! Out of all of you, Kagome and Shiro are the only ones in their armor, and Kagome joined the two of us a while ago!" She looked at Keith, Hunk, and Pidge, "you three don't even have your bayards with you!" She looked around and pinched the bridge of her nose, "and Lance hasn't even shown up _still!_ "

Not long after those words fell from her mouth, Lance finally entered the bridge. He stifled a yawn behind his hand as he waved to the rest with his other one. "Morning you guys," he said. "What's up?"

Allura glared at him for his nonchalant approach. "Coran and I have been up for hours already working on getting the castle back in working order. The alarms needed to be tested, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to test all of you, as well. Take a guess as to which of you failed the test."

Kagome frowned and turned to Allura. "I know things are dire, but you need to give them time," Kagome said. They weren't used to war, and she could definitely say it took some time getting used to it. "They'll get the hang of it, but that can't be accomplished overnight."

"Kagome's right," Hunk said, yawning a second later. "On Monday, I was on Earth. Since then, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien, eaten some weird _goo_ in some less weird castle. It's a lot to process in two days, man."

Allura looked from Kagome to Hunk, eventually letting herself look over the others. "It might be a lot, but you must understand the stakes our mission has," she said. She brought up a map of the universe and showed the rest the large sum of distress beacons. "In the past ten-thousand years, these are all the distress beacons the castle's picked up," Allura said. "We have to assume that Zarkon has conquered most of the known universe." She moved the map to focus on the Milky Way, where she then focused on Earth. "This is Earth. Zarkon has nearly reached your galaxy. At this rate, an assault on Earth is inevitable."

They were silent as Allura's message seeped in. The map faded as she looked them over.

"Our mission is to free those planets and to stop Zarkon from claiming any more," she said. "Coran and I will continue to get the castle back in working order. You six must put your focus on reforming Voltron. Yesterday was a good start, but we can't afford to take that long next time Voltron is needed," Allura said.

"The Princess is right," Shiro said, looking at the others. "Some more practice working together as a team will do us some good, anyway. Let's head out to our lions and get started."

"Wait," Pidge stopped them from going. "Is there any way I can talk to the prisoners we got from Zarkon's ship yesterday before that?"

"That's a negative, Number Six," Coran said as he walked towards Pidge. "Oh, by the way, I have ranked you all based on your height." Pidge glared at him, but Coran ignored her. "They need to stay in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow, at least."

"Right," Allura said. She looked at the rest and nodded to them. "You all go and work on forming Voltron."

* * *

The five of them were waiting outside the castle in their lions for the last of them to show up. After a few more minutes, Hunk had yet to show and an awkward silence hung in the air.

"Does someone need to go in and get him?" Lance asked, but not long after, Hunk finally joined them.

"Sorry guys," he said.

"Alright team," Shiro said, his voice stealing the rest's attention. "In order to form Voltron, we need to be in sync. So, let's try just flying in formation until we're completely in sync."

"You can do it!" Allura cheered, her voice drifting through the communication devices in their suits. "Feel the bonds you have with your lions and with one another! Let yourselves connect with each other until you come together and form Voltron!"

"You guys ready?" Shiro asked, and the rest shot back a conformation. Without wasting any more time, the group took off and flew to the sky in formation.

After several laps around, and feeling no change whatsoever, the group was becoming less and less enthusiastic. Just being in sync physically didn't seem to cut it.

"Okay, obviously flying in sync isn't doing it," Shiro said. "Let's sit down for a moment and think."

"We need to find a way to line up with each other," Kagome said. "We can't just _act_ in sync, we have to actually be it. Not just the lions, but us as well."

"Okay, but how do we do that?" Lance asked. "It just sorta _happened_ last time."

Kagome frowned and let her body slump in her seat as she tried to think of a way. It wasn't much later before Allura's face appeared on screen in each lion.

"I don't mean to be an interruption, but maybe I can help," she said. "Yesterday it took being in the heat of battle to finally come together and form Voltron."

Kagome nodded as the rest agreed.

"Great!" Allura exclaimed. "I need to run diagnostic tests on all of the castle's defenses, so maybe this will help you come together!"

Without warning, Allura ran the tests, activating the castle's defenses. Blasts shot from the particle barrier, aiming towards where they had congregated. The first few hit the ground beside the lions, and they immediately scattered to get away from the assault.

"Allura, what are you doing!?" Keith shouted as the six of them split up to evade the shots fired at them.

"I'm inspiring you and running the much-needed diagnostic tests!" Allura exclaimed. "I believe in you, Paladins. Let fear be a motivation and come together to form Voltron! I know you can do it!"

"This is insane!" Lance yelled. He shook his head and turned the blue lion around, darting back towards the castle for safety. "That's it. I'm heading back!"

He didn't make it far, however. After dodging the shots aiming for him, he ended up colliding with the particle barrier and getting knocked back.

Kagome dodged the bombardment aiming for her and ran to shield Lance from the next slew. She crouched in front of the blue lion, her barrier going up and guarding them both.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Hunk cried as he dodged, as well. "Please have mercy!"

"No," Allura said. "Do you think Zarkon's going to take mercy on you all? Absolutely not! He's probably coming after us to destroy us as we speak!"

She left the screen in each lion, their communication getting cut off as she left the bridge, leaving the auto-lock-on active. In doing so, she left the six outside to dodge the onslaught of attacks.

* * *

It was sometime later when the majority of the paladins sprawled out along the couches of the castle's lounge. After spending who knows how long outside, flying around like scattered ducks, the barrier had fallen and they'd been able to retreat back into the castle.

"How are we doing on condenser number five?" Allura asked as she and Coran stepped over the lounge's threshold. Kirara was perched on her shoulder, taking to sticking around her while Kagome was busy

"Still the same," Coran said, humming thoughtfully. "Only at eighty-four percent."

Allura turned and spotted the four taking up the couches. "You formed Voltron?" she asked, clearly excited at the presumption they'd managed to finally come together.

"No," Keith said, picking his head up to look at the two. "The shooting stopped and the barrier went down so we just flew inside."

A look of annoyance crossed Allura's face, and she turned to Coran. "What?"

"Oh, right!" Coran snapped his fingers as if he was recalling something. "Sorry, Princess," he said then, "I needed to shut off the castle defenses when I was testing the fire suppressors."

Allura was about to say something else to the group of four on the couches when Shiro entered. Not far behind him was Kagome. Kirara sat up on Allura's shoulder and leaped over to the raven-haired girl.

"What are you guys doing?" Shiro asked. "No one said anything about taking a break."

"That's right," Allura said, folding her arms over her chest as she gave them her best scolding look. "You all need to put your focus on training."

"We've been training," Hunk said as he sat up. "How much longer until we can go home?"

"Earth won't exist if we can't figure out how to defeat Zarkon," Shiro reminded them, folding his arms much like Allura had. "We can't give up now."

"How are we even supposed to fight?" Lance asked.

Pidge nodded in agreement. "Lance has a point," she said. "We can't even form Voltron again."

"It's not surprising," Coran said. "After all, the original paladins fought countless battles side-by-side, in and out of the lions."

Kagome looked from Shiro, turning to Allura with a small smile on her face. She could sense how exhausted they were, just as much as she could sense how hard they were trying to make this happen. They were frustrated, and rightfully so. "Since flying in our lions isn't doing it, maybe we can try bonding another way?" she suggested. "We need to figure out how to be and how to work together as a team before we can form Voltron."

Allura glanced at Coran, and they nodded a second later.

"During the battle yesterday, it was your survival instincts that connected you and urged you to work as a team," Coran said. "However, that can only get you so far for so long. If you wanna have any hope of defeating Zarkon, then you're going to have to start working as a real team." He looked at Kagome and nodded. "We'll try it your way and try something else. Follow me to the training deck, everyone!"

"Wait, wait," Hunk said as everyone got up. "There's a training deck?"

* * *

Coran left them in the training deck as he took his place overhead to observe them below. He got situated in front of the microphone and tapped on it to get their attention.

"Alright you six, listen up," he began once he saw he had their attention. "The Paladin code demands that you put your teammate's safety above your own. You must strive to defend each of your teammates and keep a tight line of defense!" Coran paused and activated a switch to his side. "In a few moments, a swarm of drones will appear and ambush you. You all must do whatever it takes to protect the rest of your team in hopes they do the same for you."

The drones appeared, and Kagome formed her shield along with Keith and Pidge. Not long after, Hunk, Lance, and Shiro manifested their shields as well.

"On your feet, everyone," Shiro said as the drones circled around them. They held their shields up to guard against the attack. Not much later, the drones began firing at them.

Hunk dodged the ones aiming at him, but the hits ended up striking Pidge, who had been right behind him. A hole opened below Pidge, and she fell down it with a startled yelp. They didn't have much time to process the incident before the attacks got more insistent.

"Protect!" Coran exclaimed. "You must _protect_ your teammates, otherwise there will be no one there to protect you!"

Hunk ended up getting hit when he lowered his shield a bit, and he followed Pidge down the same way when a hole formed under his feet.

Kagome bit her lip as she shook her head. "Move in closer," she said. "Don't allow for any openings!"

They followed her words, and the four remaining moved in closer, standing back-to-back in order to keep a tighter-knit circle.

"Alright, the intensity is going to increase now," Coran announced, and the drones began to fire nonstop.

"You keeping up there, Keith?" Lance taunted.

Keith didn't turn from his focus. "Concentrate on keeping us safe," he said in response.

"Me?" Lance smirked. "Oh, I got this drill in the bag! You're the one who should be focused."

"Stop it, you two!" Kagome snapped from over her shoulder. "You're going to distract each other." A part of her wanted to just throw a barrier up and call it a day on this drill, but she also knew that doing so wouldn't accomplish what it was meant to. "Just focus on-!" Kagome's words were cut short when she got hit in the back as Lance stepped out of formation. A shot hit Keith, and as soon as he got hit, one had hit her.

They both fell through the floor at the same time, leaving just Lance and Shiro behind.

The remaining two didn't last long. They ended up going down not long after the rest had, falling through the floor just like the rest before.

Coran sat motionless in his chair for a moment before slamming his head into his palms. "Oh boy," he grumbled.

* * *

After a few more failed drills, they were all seated on the floor of the training deck. They'd been given special headsets by Coran before he went back to his perch to observe their progress. They sat in a circle, facing one another as they donned the strange headpieces.

"One of the most important parts of Paladin training is being able to meld your minds together in order to ensure focus on just one thing: Voltron! Everything else you might be thinking of must fade away for the time being, and you must allow Voltron to be the only thing that occupies your thoughts," Coran said. " _Since other drills haven't worked in uniting you into working as a team_ ," he mumbled dryly before perking up," we'll give this a shot."

Kagome was able to see her thoughts manifested on the screen that had appeared in front of her. The aged well basked in sunlight and overgrown vines flickered. Several more images flashed along the screen. From her dream the prior night, to the faces of her old friends, and everything else in between.

She could feel the others able to look inside her thoughts, and it made her uneasy. She tried to keep her focus on the lion, but she could feel that her head was open for them all to peer inside. The parts of her past left buried in her head were open and exposed, and she _hated_ it.

"All of you, take a breath and relax," Coran said. "Open your mind. There are no walls or secrets between the Paladins," he said. "Now, let your thoughts shift to the lions and focus on making that your mental image."

They did as he said, and their thoughts slowly warped into the lions. They moved closer to each other, and slowly began to form into Voltron.

"That's it!" Coran exclaimed, "bring the lions together and let them form Voltron. Keep your minds open, cooperate," he urged. "Good, good! Just one more to go," he said as five of the six merged, the green lion being the sole one to not be with the rest.

Keith opened his eyes and saw that Pidge still wasn't focused. "Pidge!" He snapped at her, "quit thinking about your girlfriend!"

Pidge jumped and her mental image vanished. She glared at Keith and folded her arms over her chest. "I wasn't!" she said, and she nodded at Hunk. "Hunk was looking around in my head!"

"W-We're open," Hunk said, defending himself when Pidge snapped at him. "You can look in my head if you want!"

Pidge glared at him, but before she could say anything, Coran interrupted the argument.

"You all have to be able to look inside everyone's head," he said. "Let's try again, clear your minds, everyone!"

They repeated the process, and this time the green lion managed to meet with the rest in the middle of them all.

"Good," Coran encouraged. "Just a little… bit… more... and-!"

The static image from Pidge replaced the green lion, once again preventing Voltron from being formed.

"Pidge!" Lance yelled as he opened his eyes. "Stop it!"

Pidge shot up from where she was sitting and snatched the headset off, throwing it to the ground. "I'm done with this drill!" she yelled. "I don't like everyone being able to dig around in my head."

Kagome removed her headset next, setting it down beside her with a tad bit more care than Pidge had. "I-I'm with Pidge," Kagome said, standing and folding her arms defensively over her chest. "I don't want people going through my thoughts."

Shiro frowned as he looked from Pidge to Kagome. "Come on you two," he said as he got up as well. "We were finally getting the hang of this."

Pidge kept her attention down, tears budding in her eyes. "I… I'm just tired, okay?" She said, "we've been at this all day."

Shiro looked over the rest in the room. Though they didn't say it, they looked worn out, too. He looked back at Pidge and nodded. "Okay, we'll take a break."

Coran came and joined them on the ground level. He brought them juice packs, and he handed each of them one as they sat to take a short break.

"You've all been working hard today," he said. "A little break might do you some good."

They were there for a good five or ten minutes before Allura came to check on them. She saw them sitting in a circle, and she stomped over with an agitated expression.

"What are you doing just lazing around?" she asked. "Get up, all of you! We don't have time to just sit around like this!"

"They're just taking a short break," Coran said. "You know you can't push them too hard, Princess," he said.

"Push too hard?" Allura glared at Coran. She looked at them next. "I said get up!" she exclaimed. "I've had enough of this. Time for you to face the Gladiator."

Kagome looked up, brows raised when Allura said that. "... _Gladiator_?"

That sounded like fun after the past few days she'd had. She hopped up and stretched, ready for a challenge. Allura was momentarily startled, not expecting any of them to move so eagerly at the newest challenge for them. Her surprise faded and was replaced with a smile as Kagome turned to face her.

"Get it ready."

The rest were surprised at her bold statement, looking at her with widened eyes. She was like a different person when she said it.

"Kagome...?" Shiro got up after she said that. Given everything he'd learned about her recently, and everything he still didn't know, he didn't know if he should be concerned or not about her spirited enthusiasm about facing a Gladiator.

She glanced back at him, pulling a smile onto her face. "What?" she said then. "This sounds like fun, unlike most everything else we've done today."

At the very least, it sounded like a great stress-reliever.

Allura beamed. "That's the spirit, Kagome!"

They stood at the ready, their bayards formed into their weapons. They kept careful watch of their surroundings, waiting for the Gladiator to show up. As they did, they heard Coran once again from above them.

"In order for you to defeat the Gladiator, all six of you must fight as one," he said. "Let yourself link up and connect as you take down a common foe! Ready? Begin!"

The ceiling opened with a hole, the Gladiator dropped down to join them in the enclosed area. In its hands was a polearm staff, and it spun it over its head as it stood up entirely.

"Move!" Kagome commanded as the Gladiator sprung into motion.

It turned towards Hunk first. He instantly panicked and got knocked to the side when the Gladiator struck him. Pidge ran to face it, managing to last a few short seconds against it before she was knocked to the side, as well, just as Hunk had been.

The Gladiator turned, knocking Lance on the top of his head with the end of its staff. It swatted Keith next before spinning and jabbing Lance in the stomach, swinging him around and throwing him into Keith and knocking them both into the wall behind Keith.

The Gladiator turned towards Kagome next, raising its staff to strike her. Kagome narrowed her eyes, and she braced the curve of her bow over her head and caught the staff mid-swing. She spun and kicked the Gladiator in its chest, knocking it back and closer to Shiro. It caught sight of him and rushed him, focusing its full attention on him as it lifted its staff to take him down.

Kagome's eyes widened when Shiro froze like a deer in headlights, and she barreled towards him. "Shiro, get down!"

Keith shot up from the floor and ran to guard Shiro against the impending hit. It never hit him, though. Kagome slammed her body into the Gladiator to get it away from Shiro and Keith, knocking it back a few paces. She couldn't move quick enough to put more space between her and it when it spun around to face her. The Gladiator struck her stomach with the side of its staff. It knocked the wind from her as she was slung back into the other two, knocking them down as she fell.

Kagome climbed back on her feet, eyes narrowed as she braced herself on her bow. She panted, trying to regain her breath as the Gladiator went back in for her. Kagome swung her bow up to catch the downswing of its staff once again, and she threw her weight at it to make it stumble back. This time it was her turn to lunge at it, and she delivered a spin-kick to its chest. The Gladiator stumbled back, nearly dropping its staff before diving back at her, staff raised above its head.

Kagome gripped the length of her bow. She swung at the Gladiator as if her bow was a sword, striking it in the middle. It got knocked back a small bit before it lunged at her again. Kagome rocked her weight back on one hand, propelling herself back a few paces. The Gladiator swung at her again and she ducked, sweeping her leg out and knocking it down.

When its balance was disrupted, Kagome stood and spun again, bringing her heel down on its back and sending it forward into a crumbled pile as she beat the drill.

Her bayard turned back to normal as she exhaled. She _definitely_ needed that after everything leading up to this. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked over at the rest, still sprawled out on the ground.

Coran looked at Allura at his side, and he saw she had her hands cupped over her chest and a smile on her face once Kagome completed the drill. Not long after, she felt the weight of his stare, and she quickly shook her head to remove the stars she knew had entered her eyes.

She stormed into the training deck and glared at the ones laying on the ground. "That was set at a training level fit for an Altean _child_ , and it looks like Kagome was the _only_ one who was able to withstand it," she said. "You're nowhere near being able to work together as a team. You can't face Zarkon like this!"

* * *

After a long day of training, they were eventually brought to the castle's dining hall. They sat down, nearly exhausted, in front of a table covered in plates of green goo and other strange-looking foods. None of it looked particularly appetizing to Kagome, and she eyed it hesitantly.

"Ahoy, Paladins!" Coran greeted them as he stepped up to their seated forms. "What you see in front of you now is a big batch of focusing food I just whipped up for you all!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "After this, you'll be sure to be forming Voltron in no time at all!"

"Thanks, Coran, it looks great." Shiro glanced at the food and Kagome looked up at him. She couldn't tell what he was really feeling.

Coran picked up a remote he had set to the side and pressed a button on it. The group at the table let out startled cries when they were all handcuffed to one another, wrists bound by some strange magnetic pull.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked as he was abruptly handcuffed to the two beside him.

"Now," Coran began, "today I saw a lot of phenomenal individual performances, but it seems like you're still struggling in getting the hang of operating as a team," he said. "So, I present the final bonding session of the day," he said, waving to their seated forms.

Hunk looked on both sides of him, and he tried to free himself from where his wrists were bound to Shiro and Lance. No matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. He frowned and looked from the table to Coran. "Coran, listen to me," he said. "I really need you to think about what you're doing."

"This one is an easy classic," Coran said brightly. "You get to feed each other, just like a pack of Yalmors! If you want to eat, you'll have to work together!"

"Oh, having dinner?" Allura asked as she entered the dining hall. She sat at the head of the table and looked at the rest. As they struggled, Coran handed her a plate.

She ate in silence as they kept squabbling amongst one another, arguing back and forth as each motion jerked their other's body one way or the other. After a long pause on her end, she looked up and glared at the group across from her.

"Is complaining all Earthlings can do together?" she asked, frustrated with them.

Shiro frowned and looked at her as the rest followed suit. "Can't you just give us a break already?" he asked. "It's not like we haven't been trying. Everyone's been working hard."

"Yeah!" Keith exclaimed, trying to jerk his hands back to him to no avail. He glared at the table when they were jest slapped back against his neighbors at the table. "We're not a bunch of prisoners you get to toy around with, like… like…"

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance fired off when Keith was struggling to find what to say.

"Exactly!" Keith yelled, looking at Lance. "Thank you, Lance!"

"Oh no!" Coran folded his arms and glared at the two. "You do _not_ yell at the Princess!"

"Princess?" Pidge exclaimed sarcastically, "oh the Princess of _what_?" she looked around at the rest. "We're the only ones here, and she's definitely no Princess of ours!"

Allura narrowed her eyes and scooped up a spoonful of green goo before aiming and flinging it across the table at Pidge. It hit Pidge, and both her and Keith glared at Allura.

"Go loose, Pidge!" Keith shouted, and he picked up a bowl of goo. He tossed the contents at her, but Coran dived in and guarded Allura against the sticky mess. Coran grabbed a large ladle and scooped up a hefty amount of goo, and he flung it all over the six handcuffed.

"Oh, _gross_!" Kagome shrieked as she got covered in the slop she'd been avoiding touching. "I wasn't a part of this!" she cried. "I was minding my own business!" A glob of green fell from her messy bun and trailed down her face before it splattered on the table's surface. She shivered in disgust. It was so… so... _slimy_. She glared at Coran and snatched the bowl closest to her before slinging the goo at him. It covered his head, and she pushed herself up from the table, letting the bowl clatter on the surface as she jabbed a finger in his direction. "I held back against the Gladiator, but _you-_ you're going down!"

"It's on!" Hunk exclaimed as he stood up, the rest following pursuit as they snatched up bowls and spoonfuls of green goo.

Kagome ducked behind Shiro to dodge another spoonful of goop slung her way, letting him get hit in the chest with the slop as she snatched a bowl up from his other side. She gripped the bowl and slung the mess inside it at the two Alteans on the other side of the table.

Their fight went on for some time. They slung it all over the table and at each other as they worked their frustration out. It eventually turned from a fight to them having fun, laughing as they slung the goop across the table at each other.

As it wound down, Allura sank in her chair. She was panting hard and covered in goo just as the others were. As she sat, the rest looked amongst one another and took in how silly they all looked. After a moment of silence, they all burst out laughing at each other.

Allura looked up at hearing them laugh. "Enough!" she exclaimed. "Do you realize what you're doing?!" The group of six stopped laughing when Allura suddenly spoke, but a second later, she looked at them with a wide, excited grin. "You've finally managed to work together as a _team_!"

They looked between each other as Allura said that.

"She's right," Keith finally said.

After everything today, the thing that united them had been a food fight.

"You know," Lance said as he glanced at Keith. "I don't completely hate you right now."

"Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked as he grinned at them all.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro said, and the rest nodded in agreement. They were freed from their cuffs, and they started towards the exit.

"Ah ah," Kagome wagged her finger, stopping all of them before they could go. "I'm _not_ getting in my lion covered in this…. _ugh,_ " Kagome shivered.

The rest looked at each other, and they nodded in agreement.

"Alright, everyone," Shiro said. "Let's get cleaned up first and then let's form Voltron!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

As the six formed Voltron, Allura and Coran stood together outside the castle. Kirara walked outside to join them, and she jumped up into Allura's arms. She smiled and looked at Coran.

"See?" She said, "I told you I could get them to do it. All they needed was a common enemy to push them," Allura said as she scratched Kirara's head.

Coran smiled back at her and nodded. The paladins let themselves fall out of Voltron, and they returned inside after their accomplishment. Allura and Coran went back to join them, finding them sprawled out on the couches in the lounge.

Kagome laid back and folded an arm under her head as she looked up at the ceiling. After the long day, her lack of sleep the past few days was finally catching up to her. She hummed softly as the rest started talking, but her consciousness began drifting as sleep claimed her.

"Ah, man," Lance said as he folded his arms behind his head. "That was so cool! I don't even think I'll be able to sleep tonight with how much energy I got right now!"

Keith looked at him and smiled. "Not me," he said. "When I lay down tonight, it's gonna be lights out for me."

"You know guys?" Hunk said as he sank down between Lance and Keith. "I realized something while we were in Voltron together. We're connected, you guys. We're like a family here, and I love you guys."

Keith rose his brows and felt himself get squished up against Hunk as he held both him and Lance against him in a strong hug. "G-forces mess with your head some?" he asked.

"Maybe a little bit," Hunk said with a laugh as he let them go finally. "I dunno. These past few days have been rough." He paused and looked around. "Hey, Kagome? You've been quiet for a while."

His observation caused the rest to search for the girl, and they found her sprawled out, already fast asleep in the middle of a couch.

"Looks like she couldn't wait to get into bed before she fell asleep," Shiro said with a laugh. He went over to her and carefully picked her up bridal style. She didn't stir any as she got moved, nor did she wake up when Kirara pounced onto her stomach. "I'll take her to her room. You guys go get some sleep," he said.

The rest nodded and got up, heading out so they could go to bed. Before Shiro left, he paused at the door and glanced back at Pidge, who had stuck on the couch, seemingly deep in thought. "You going to bed, Pidge?" he asked.

Pidge looked up when she heard Shiro call her name. She blinked and nodded. "I'll go in a minute," she said.

He nodded and smiled at her. "Good work today," he said. "We're all really coming together as a team."

* * *

When she woke up, Kagome realized she was now in her room. She didn't remember coming to her room, so she figured someone must've carried her back from the lounge. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before stretching and hopping up out of bed.

It felt later than she normally got up, but the day was still early. Kagome fixed her hair up into her usual bun after she got dressed in her armor. Kirara sat up on the pillow and flashed her teeth in a large yawn. Kagome looked at her as she went to the door. "You wanna head outside for a little while, Kirara?" she asked. That was all she had to say before Kirara launched herself off the bed and took off down the hall to the castle's entrance.

Kagome followed behind her a bit slower, and she wondered if the rest had gotten up yet. She didn't feel anyone up and active, but she shook her head as she eventually reached the castle's entrance. She headed out and inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh air with a refreshed sigh.

She headed off the path from the castle's walkway, stepping onto the planet's surface as Kirara played in the plants surrounding them. She walked, examining each section carefully for anything that might be toxic or dangerous to living creatures.

"Aha!" Kagome exclaimed as she found something that was safe, and she crouched in front of the verdant section. She closed her eyes and concentrated as a pink glow surrounded her fingers. With a little effort, the glowing pink began to shift and loop together in order to fashion a basket out of the pearlescent pink. With a sharp movement, she snatched her hand away and smiled at her handiwork.

It wouldn't stay forever, but it would keep for a few hours before it dissipated into pink light. She looked back at the vegetation and nodded to herself.

"Alright! These look great!" she said as she set to gathering the herbs and other things she'd come across.

After almost a half-hour of foraging, Kagome returned back into the castle and carried the basket made of her energy into the kitchen. She set it in a safe place, just in case the basket faded before she was able to do anything with them.

By now, the rest seemed to be awake, and she went to join them.

* * *

It was some hours later when they entered the dining hall. They'd spent most of the day working on forming Voltron over and over again, and they were getting the hang of it easier than ever.

They sat down at the table right as Coran came in to join them. He carried something on a covered platter, and he spoke loudly to get their attention.

"Hello, you guys!" he said. "How has your training been going today?" he inquired as he set the platter down on the middle of the table.

"We're getting there," Shiro said, looking the team over with a smile. "How about you two?" he asked, intending Coran and Allura. "How's the progress on the castle? Are we about ready to leave Arus? I'm starting to feel like sitting ducks the longer we're stuck here."

Coran hummed. "We're getting there," he said. "Shouldn't be much longer at all! In the meantime, in order to get your mind off those duck seats you're worried about, I took the time to make you an authentic Paladin lunch!"

He yanked the lid off the platter and everyone's face faltered when their eyes and noses were assaulted by what was hidden underneath.

"C'mon Coran," Hunk said as he looked at the orange-haired Altean. "You just got me hooked on that green goo. You can't go changing up the menu on me like this."

"This is packed full of nutrients!" Coran exclaimed, and he encouraged them to try it.

Hunk sniffed it and he recoiled away from it with a nauseated grimace. "It smells terrible," he said.

"That's how you know it's healthy!"

"Coran, listen to me," Hunk said. "We are on a planet full of fresh herbs and spices, and all sorts of things. If you'll excuse me, I'm going into that kitchen, and I'm gonna spice it up some."

"Oh!" Kagome said up as she looked towards Hunk. "That reminds me. Guess who went out and gathered a bunch of fresh herbs and other stuff bright and early this morning?" she said, and Hunk perked up.

"Uh, Kagome, you're the best," he said as he walked up next to her. He set his hands on her shoulders and smiled. "You and me. We're taking over the kitchen together right now, let's go!"

"All right!" Kagome pumped her fist in the air as she hopped behind Hunk into the kitchen to prepare something that _actually_ looked appetizing.

Kagome and Hunk headed into the kitchen, leaving behind Shiro, Lance, and Keith in the dining hall with Coran. Shiro noticed the missing green paladin, and he looked at Coran, curious.

"Where'd Pidge go?"

Coran looked at Shiro as he picked up a lump of the strange food he'd prepared, shoveling it into his mouth. "He's probably off- checking on those prisoners we rescued from Sendak's ship," he said and he swallowed the bite he'd taken. "They should be waking up soon, after all."

Shiro got up and was about to leave when Coran stopped him. He picked up another bite and turned to Shiro, whose eyes widened when Coran held it out to him.

"Open the hatch," he encouraged. "Food lion coming in for a landing!" Coran said as he tried to get Shiro to take the bite.

Shiro narrowed his eyes as he caught Coran's wrist before it could get much closer to his face. He shook his head and backed away. "No. Absolutely not," he said as he turned and left to find Pidge.

Coran watched as he left, shrugging and jamming the bite into his mouth with a huff. "You don't know what you're missing!"

Shiro went to find Pidge, and he found her waiting as patiently as she could. Which, in hindsight, wasn't that patient. She was tapping her foot on the floor and sitting with a tense posture. Shiro smiled and he went to join her, sitting down beside her and setting his hands on his knees.

"You're as anxious as I am about this," he said as he glanced at Pidge. She looked up at him before turning back to the pods.

"They have to know something about my family," she said. "Even just a tiny bit, they have to know at least a little bit."

Shiro nodded. "I hope so," he said, and Pidge looked back at him.

"When we found them, one of them called you 'Champion'," she said. "What does that mean?"

"I can't tell you," Shiro said. "I can't remember much of my time captured, but the way those guys looked when we found them…" he paused and looked down, his hands tightening some. "I don't think I like the sound of it…"

They heard as a pod opened, and they both looked up as the pod containing Xi opened.

* * *

Meanwhile in the dining hall Hunk and Kagome finally brought out a collection of food they fixed up together. They set it down on the table and stepped back as Keith and Lance wasted no time in digging in. Coran watched as they ate, a glare on his face, and Allura eventually came in to join them. She saw the two eating with so much vigor, and she looked at Coran with a smile.

"I take it they like the Paladin lunch?" she asked, but Coran huffed in response, much to her surprise.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said as he turned away from the table covered in food prepared by Hunk and Kagome.

Allura arched a brow before shaking her head. "I finally got the last nebulon booster working," she said. "Tomorrow we should be able to leave Arus!"

Kagome looked at Allura and smiled. "That's great," she said, and Allura turned to her with a similar smile on her face. "The sooner we move, the sooner we can get to work undoing Zarkon's domination."

"Right you are," Allura said. She was silenced when the alarms began to blare. It's the only thing that pulls Lance and Keith to stop shoveling food into their mouths, and they looked up when Allura brought up a screen. On it was a small alien creeping up to the castle.

Keith looked at it. "What is that?"

Allura shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said. She thought for a moment and looked at the team with her. "Perhaps it's a local Arusian? He's approaching the castle."

"Aww!" Hunk exclaimed as he looked at his little legs move. As he moved closer to the castle, he let out a shout. He ducked and hid behind some rocks, peering out a moment later to eye the castle's entrance. "It's so cute!"

"Looks pretty harmless to me," Lance said as he stood up.

"Let's go greet him!" Kagome said as she clasped her hands together. "He looks so huggable!"

"Just because he looks harmless doesn't mean he is," Keith said as he looked at Kagome. He summoned his bayard and Allura shook her head.

"No, Keith," she said. "Alteans believe in peace first. Kagome's right," she said with a smile, looking back at the raven-haired woman. "We should go greet our guest!"

They all headed outside, but the small creature yelped and went to hide as soon as they got outside. It doesn't take much to find him, and they approached where he'd hidden away.

Allura smiled as she stepped up to the area. "Hello there," she said. "We know you're hiding there. Come on out, there's no need to hide. We won't hurt you."

He jumped from his hiding spot and brandished his sword to the group. It was the furthest thing from intimidating, and Hunk clasped his hands together.

"Aww! How cute!"

Keith stepped in front of the alien with his bayard ready. "He could be dangerous," he said, eyeing the weapon pointed at them. "Drop your weapon!"

"No one takes Klaizap's weapon!" he declared, planting his feet firmly.

"Keith, put your bayard away," Allura said, and she gently set a hand on his shoulder to urge him to move. She looked at the tiny alien and placed a hand over her chest. "Please, kind sir, accept my humblest apologies."

Her apology calmed Klaizap, and he moved his sword out of the way once Keith put his bayard away. "I am Klaizap, the bravest of our warriors! Our village resides just over Gazrel Hill," he said. "I come to seek answers as to why the Lion Goddess has grown angry with her followers."

"Followers?" Coran tilted his head to the side, and Hunk looked back at him.

"What's the Lion Goddess?" Hunk asked, and Coran shrugged.

Klaizap looked at the two and nodded. "The one that the ancients spoke of!" he exclaimed as he rose both arms to the sky before he motioned to a carving of a lion-headed deity shown to be worshipped by carvings of Arusians. Allura looked at it before turning back to the Arusian.

"Why do you think she's been angered?" she asked.

"For the past few suns, destruction and fire have rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky!"

The group fell silent for a moment as the realization struck that he was talking about Voltron. Allura looked around before turning back to Klaizap.

"You don't have to worry," she said softly. "You have not angered the Lion Goddess."

"How can you know?" he asked.

Allura smiled and looked at the castle behind them. "Because this is my castle, and I am Allura."

Her words made Klaizap jump, and he suddenly bowed. "Lion Goddess!" he exclaimed, and a surprised look flashed across Allura's face. She shook her head and held a hand out.

"There's no need to bow, bravest warrior," she said. "Please, take us to your village so that we can finally meet our neighbors!"

"I thought we were focused on leaving this planet so we can go fight Zarkon?" Keith asked, and Allura looked at him. She nodded and turned back to Klaizap, leading them off behind him.

"Yes, but part of the Paladins' mission is to spread peace," she said. "Arus has been the host of my castle for the past ten-thousand years. The Arusians deserve our thanks for allowing us to remain here for so long."

* * *

In the infirmary, Shiro and Pidge are tending to the prisoners rescued from Sendak's ship. As more and more leave their pods fully recovered, they start talking with them.

"How long have you been held captive?" Pidge asked Xi, the first alien to wake up and leave the pod.

He looked at Pidge. "For a long time. Some have been there for years, decades even. It's hard to know how long it was. Time became a blur and it turned into one non-stop nightmare."

"You must've been there when my family arrived," Pidge said. "Sam and Matt Holt?" she said, hoping their names might jar his memory some.

"I never learned their names, but I do remember the other two Earthlings that arrived at the same time as Champion," Xi said. Shiro tensed up when he said that word.

"... You keep calling me Campion," Shiro said. "Why?"

Xi looked at him, astonished. "You truly don't remember? You were one of few, a legendary gladiator that remained undefeated in the ring. You even managed to take down the infamous Myzax. That day was when you earned your title as Champion," he said. "I was there, as was the younger Earthling." Xi inhaled as he recalled the memory, glancing down. "We were all prisoners that were forced to fight in the ring for Zarkon's entertainment. That day, we were chosen to fight against Myzax, a vile beast many had stood against before, but none ever survived against him. I was sure that our fate was to be slaughtered at his hands. The Earthling called Matt was the first of us sent to face him, but fate decided differently…" Xi looked up at Shiro. "You were so thirsty for blood that you stole the blade and injured your fellow Earthling."

Pidge turned and looked at Shiro, furious at discovering the incident. "You attacked my brother! Why would you do that?!" she yelled as she stood up.

Shiro shook his head. He didn't want to believe this, but he couldn't argue with what Xi had said. "No," he shook his head. "That can't be what happened."

"It's true," Xi said, his voice soft. "I witnessed it. We all did."

Pidge turned from Shiro to focus on Xi. "After my brother got hurt, where was he taken? Do you know?"

Xi shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Shiro looked from Xi to Pidge, shaking his head. "I don't believe that," he said. "I- There has to be more to the story we don't know yet. I couldn't have hurt him." He paused for a moment, trying to think and recall his memories, to no avail. A second later, however, he remembered the ship. "Wait a second," he said. "That ship we got you off of crashlanded on this planet. They have to have logs on the prisoners stored there. Somewhere, some sort of information," he said.

Pidge looked up at him as he said that. "I'm coming with you."

* * *

"Oh! Lion Goddess, I, King of the Arusians, humbly beg for your forgiveness! Please, have mercy on us and accept our traditional Dance of Apology as an atonement for our many wrongdoings!" The Arusian King exclaimed. A second later, he clapped and summoned one of the surrounding Arusians to dance. "Now!" he exclaimed. "Let the Dance of Apology commence! Hoorah!"

Music began, and the Arusian began to dance. Allura watched for a moment before she raised her hands.

"Please," she said, "there's no need for all of this."

"Moontow, halt!" the King cried, and Moontow came to an instant halt, precariously balancing on one foot. "The Goddess has refused our apology dance. Start the sacrificial fire! We must throw ourselves in! It is the only way to atone for our mistakes.

They watched as they ignited a large pyre, and Allura gasped in horror as one was readied to be thrown in the fire.

"No!" she yelled, "no sacrifices!" she cried, horrified.

The King looked back at her. "So you wish for us to proceed with our dance?"

"That's a better alternative," Allura said, and the dance began again.

As the dance wound to an end, Moontow and the rest of the Arusians bowed to Allura. At the sight, Allura blinked and looked over the village. She was taken by surprise when they all bowed to her.

"Oh…! No, no, please rise!" Allura said. "Thank you for all of this, but I'm no great being who's worthy of your worship. I've accidentally placed all of you in danger," she said. "I am Princess Allura, and these people with me are a few of the Paladins of Voltron. Although we come from different words and have… rather different traditions, we wish to live alongside you peacefully- as friends!"

"But the Robot Angel," the King said, looking up at Allura. "Has she not come to destroy us with her rage at our immoral ways?"

"Voltron?" Allura asked. "Not at all," she said. "Actually, that mighty robot is here to protect you all. Voltron is the defender of the universe, protector to all innocent beings throughout the entire universe!"

As Allura fell silent, the Arusians erupted into cheers. They rushed to the group from the castle. Several of them jumped up to hug Allura and the rest, much to the group's surprise.

Kagome looked over her shoulder when Keith tried to leave. She snatched him by his wrist and tugged him to stop. "C'mon, don't be so mopey," she said with a grin. "These guys are so soft and cuddly!" she said as she squeezed two to her chest.

"I'll pass," he said, and he tried to leave again. He didn't get far before an Arusian jumped up and gripped him in a surprisingly sturdy hug. He could feel the smile Kagome was sending his way and he looked down at the clinging Arusian for a moment. "I… don't usually hug strangers," he said as he placed his hand on its head, "but… wow, Kagome's right. You sure are cuddly…"

"Thank you!" The Arusian responded, but his voice was nothing like Keith had expected. His eyes widened and he froze, hand still on its head.

"Hahaha!" Kagome busted out laughing at his face as she cradled the two against her. "I dunno what's funnier," she said. "The fact that you just admitted they're cuddly, or your face."

* * *

Shiro and Pidge arrived at the fallen ship, and they carefully found an entrance to it. Once they got inside, Pidge caught sight of something that might be of use and went over to it. Shiro followed her over to it.

"This looks like it could be the master control board," she said. "It doesn't look like it has power anymore, though."

"Does it just need power?" Shiro asked, looking over at it, and Pidge nodded.

"Yeah, but it has to be compatible with the Galra tech," she said.

"Let me try," he said. He activated his prosthetic arm, and it powered up the computer when he touched it with it.

"Woah…! I can't believe you got it to work again!" Pidge focused on downloading the data from the computer. "The information on my dad and Matt's whereabouts has to be somewhere in this. Once I got this downloaded, I can work on decoding it once we get back to the castle," she said.

As she was downloading the information, Shiro began to hear a faint rumble in the distance. He frowned and looked around, trying to find the source. When he looked up at the sky, his eyes widened. In the sky was a ship fast-approaching Arus.

"Oh no," Shiro said, and Pidge looked up at hearing him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Something just entered Arus' atmosphere," he said. "I don't know what it is, but it's big, its Galra, and it's heading straight for us. We need to move!" He attempted to lift his hand, but Pidge grabbed it and slammed it back down before he could disconnect it.

"Don't!" Pidge said, "you can't move yet. I'm only at fifteen percent, I'm not going anywhere until I get all of this info downloaded."

Shiro looked back up at the incoming craft, and he tried to figure how long it'd be before it reached them. He looked back at Pidge when he figured that it'd collide with where they were long before the information was anywhere close to fully downloaded. He closed his eyes and grabbed Pidge.

"I'm sorry, Pidge. We gotta go," he said, and he yanked the two of them from the computer.

"No, stop Shiro!" Pidge exclaimed, but Shiro tightened his grip on her and used his jetpack to get them away to safety from the impending crash.

"Team, come in! Backup is needed!" Shiro said, counting on the communication device in his suit to reach the others.

* * *

The rest with the Arusians were able to hear him, and they all gathered together in the crowd of small aliens.

"Where is everyone?" Shiro asked.

"What's going on, Shiro?" Keith asked, hearing the unease in Shiro's voice.

They didn't have to wait long for an answer before the ground began to rumble from the approaching spacecraft. The rest of them finally saw the threat as it arrived, and they looked at each other.

"We gotta get to our lions," Keith said, and Kagome nodded.

"We need to make sure the Arusians get to safety, too," Kagome said.

Allura nodded. "Right. You all head for your lions and go help Shiro and Pidge. I'll make sure the Arusians get to safety."

The four made it to their lions and wasted no time in going to find Shiro and Pidge. It wasn't hard to find them, as they followed after the black and green lions. They arrived in time to see the Robeast charging at the two of them.

Keith fired the red lion's mouth cannon. "We have to lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there and away from that thing!"

"Got it!" Lance said, and he fired the blue lion's tail cannon. The Robeast was stalled under the assault.

"My turn!" Hunk yelled as he charged forward. He slammed the yellow lion into the Robeast and he knocked it back.

"How are you guys doing?" Kagome asked.

"We're alright," Shiro said as he and Pidge regrouped with the other lions.

"This is something Galra, isn't it?" Hunk asked.

"I think so, but I've never seen anything like it," Shiro responded. "We can worry about what it is later. Right now we need to take it down," he said. "Form Voltron, team!"

They formed Voltron, and not long after, the Robeast managed to get back up. It turned towards them, and ran for an attack. For the most part, they were evenly matched, but Voltron was knocked to the side by some sort of orb. They braced themselves as they hurried to avoid the attack.

"What was that?" Keith asked. "I thought Voltron was supposed to be the most powerful weapon in the universe!"

Kagome saw the Robeast coming in for another attack. "Hold on, everyone!" Kagome said. She gripped her controls and closed her eyes to focus. Before the orb could hit them again, she managed to form her barrier to shield them from the attack. It hit the barrier and knocked them back a bit, but they were able to stay upright.

"We can't keep fighting here," Shiro said. "The village is too close. The villagers could get hurt if we don't move."

With the decision made, they ran from the Robeast. It chased them, and they managed to lead it far away from the village.

"We got him away from the village, but we still don't know how to take him down," Pidge said.

"I got it!" Lance exclaimed. "Let me power-kick that dumb orb thing!"

"No! No chance!" Keith yelled back. "Last time you did a kick, we fell!"

"Oh, stop living in the past, Mullet!" Lance said as he urged Voltron to take off towards the Robeast. He performed a flying kick aimed at the orb, only to miss. The orb hit Voltron and knocked them back out of the air.

"Ugh Lance!" Kagome groaned.

"Why didn't you just put a barrier up?" Lance asked, talking to Kagome.

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I can't do that if we're moving! I can only put up a barrier if we're _defending_!" she yelled back at him.

"Stop it, you two!" Shiro yelled. "Pidge, we need lasers, now!"

"Right, got it!" Pidge cried back. She tried to summon lasers, only to end up summoning Voltron's arm shield instead. "Oops! Um…!" She works to remove the shield, still trying to get the lasers.

"No, lasers! Lasers!" Shiro cried as they were struck twice by the Robeast's attack

"Ugh! Every time we focus on that stupid orb, we get blindsided by the monster and vise versa!" Hunk groaned.

"What are we supposed to do?" Lance asked.

"Look out!" Hunk responded. "Orb coming in hot!"

They were knocked to the side, colliding with a cliff. Shiro froze when he heard a familiar whirring sound, and it triggered a memory he had buried. He recognized the sound, and he recognized the enemy.

"Shiro? You okay? We need to move!" Keith said.

Shiro blinked and returned back to reality. He took a breath. "I recognize that sound," he said. "I know this monster. I remember facing him in Zarkon's prison. I know how to take him down!" It tried to attack again, but Shiro managed to make Voltron dodge the collision. "There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of his weapon, and after three times, the orb has to recharge again. He's at his weakest then, and that's when we need to strike!"

"Okay, what about in the meantime?" Hunk asked.

"We defend!" Shiro said.

"Leave it to me!" Kagome exclaimed as she brought her white barrier back up. The Robeast threw his orb towards them, and it collided with the barrier Kagome put up. It shoved them back some, but she didn't let it fall.

"Good!" Shiro said. "One down, two to go!"

Another hit came, and Kagome felt her barrier flicker some as a sharp pain shot through her body like electricity. She grimaced in pain, hands shaking as she tried to concentrate.

"How are you doing Kagome?" Shiro asked. "We have one more hit. You can do it!" he encouraged her.

Kagome nodded. "Right! " She ignored the pain and kept her barrier up. It wasn't meant to stay up so long, but she pushed to keep it standing. The third hit came in and it struck the barrier with enough force to shatter it. "Ahh!" Kagome cried out as a burning sting shot through her as her barrier dropped like shattered glass around Voltron's feet. The remnants of it flickered and faded, but the pain still stuck to her.

"Kagome!" Pidge yelled out to her. "You okay?"

Kagome was silent for a moment, taking deep breaths. The pain still stung, but she kept that to her. "Don't worry about me," she yelled. "This is our chance! Attack him!"

With her urging, Keith fired at the Robeast with the red lion's mouth cannon, but it had no effect on it.

"Nothing happened!" Pidge shouted, frustrated.

"What do we do now?" Lanced asked.

Any answer that could have been given was interrupted when they were struck with the orb again. They flew back, just barely catching themselves before they collided with the ground.

"I had a sword when I faced him before," Shiro said.

"Guys! Guys! Orb!" Hunk yelled as the second hit of the orb came soaring towards them. They were hit again and slung the opposite way.

"We can't keep taking these hits," Pidge shouted. "We have to do something!"

Ignoring the pain she felt, Kagome gripped her controls and prepared herself to summon the barrier again. She didn't know if it'd work, but she had to try. Before she could try, however, Keith's voice pulled her from her mind.

"Wait, you guys!" Keith said. "I think my lion's telling me what to do."

"Well do it!" Lance yelled. "Hurry, he's about to fire his third one at us!"

Keith tried to fit his bayard into its keyhole, but they were hit a third time before he could do so. Voltron shook as they took the hit, and the Robeasts barreled towards them to deliver another attack. Before it can reach them, Keith jammed his bayard into the slot and it summoned a saber for Voltron to wield in battle. It sliced through the Robeast and it exploded on impact, ending the fight.

* * *

At the end of the day, Pidge was sitting outside the castle. With her were the mice and Kirara, who was still in her smaller form. Kirara perked up when she heard Shiro approaching, and she let out a loud mew in greeting.

"Pidge, there you are," Shiro said as he closed the distance to her. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Pidge looked at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the animals with her. "Shiro… why did you hurt my brother?" she asked. "I thought you were friends..."

Shiro sat down beside her, "I did it to save him," he said.

"What?" Pidge looked up at him, startled, and Shiro nodded.

"My memory came back while we were fighting that monster earlier," he said. "Your dad was being sent off with the weaker prisoners to a work camp, and Matt and I were going to be forced to fight in the gladiator arena. Matt was chosen to go first, but he was scared. We all were…" Shiro said. "I stole the weapon and attacked him so he wouldn't be able to fight in the arena, and so they'd send him with your father."

Pidge blinked, tears welling in her eyes at hearing him explain. "You did it to protect him…" she said, and Shiro nodded. "So they'd choose you and let him go." Pidge lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Shiro in a tight hug. She pressed her face into his chest as she cried, "I'm so sorry I ever doubted you! Thank you so much!"

Shiro froze when Pidge hugged him, but he returned the hug not long after. He smiled and set a hand on the back of her head, the other going around her shoulders and patting her gently. "I know you really miss them, and I know that they miss you," he said softly. "They would be so proud of you, Katie."

Pidge's eyes widened when she heard Shiro call her by her real name, and she looked up, startled. He smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret," Shiro said then, and Pidge smiled as she pulled away from the hug. She leaned against him as they sat and watched the setting sun, absentmindedly petting Kirara at her side.


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Six

* * *

"A party?" Kagome asked, her head tilting to the side in curiosity. Allura nodded and smiled.

"Well, it's more of a celebration," she said. "Since we're all set to leave Arus tomorrow, a farewell celebration with the Arusians seems nice!" Allura sat down next to the ravenette on the couch, and she saw the way she drew back into herself. It looked like something was wrong with her, and Allura frowned as she peered at her face with a worried gleam in her eyes. "Is everything alright, Kagome?" she asked. "You seem… bothered by something. It's not anything I've done, is it?"

Kagome jolted upright when she said that. She shook her head and pulled a smile on her face, but Allura could tell it was forced. It looked strained, troubled. "No, not at all!" she said, waving a hand back and forth. "I… I guess I'm still getting used to all of this."

A part of her felt like Kagome's words had been far from the truth, and she looked down at her lap. "Yes… I suppose it's hard to get used to all of this, but you've been doing magnificently," she said softly. "It's like you're a natural, honestly."

Kagome looked down, feeling her vision cloud over when Allura said that. As if feeling the tense aura radiating off of the other girl, Allura stood up and turned to look at her.

"I've got a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed. "The celebration is set to start at sunset. How about I help you get ready?" she asked. "I could lend you one of my dresses, and-!"

"Shouldn't I wear my armor?" Kagome asked, "just in case something happens?"

Allura paused at the thought, and she smiled at her. "One night won't have any harm," she said. She reached for Kagome's wrist, and she gently tugged her up. "Come on," she said as she led her away from the lounge. "We don't have long to get you dressed!"

She was led to Allura's room, where the princess wasted no time in searching for a dress. She didn't wait long before she turned towards her with one held in both hands, and she held it out for her to take. Kagome blinked as she accepted the curious material. She saw Allura smiling expectantly, and Kagome soon relented with a small sigh.

She _did_ miss her dresses that she'd forgone once going to the Garrison, and while it wasn't the same, the idea was nice. With a little effort, she worked herself out of her armor and slipped the dress on.

"I hope that one's fine," Allura said after a moment. She was in front of her vanity, clearing things out of the way. "Most of them smell quite musty, I'm afraid."

Kagome looked herself over after getting the dress on. It was similar to Allura's but mostly white with gold hemming. The bodice was gold with pale rose accents. The sleeves were long and the same colors as the bodice, mostly gold with pale rose hemming on the ends. "I think it's nice," she finally said after a moment's thought

She looked up and saw Allura waving her over to the newly cleared off vanity. She urged her into the seat and occupied the space behind her.

"Let's take your hair out of your bun while we're at it," Allura said. She didn't wait for a response when she let her fingers carefully unwrap the hair tie from her dark locks. She combed her fingers through her hair as she smoothed it down, and she was surprised to find her hair was actually quite long. It reached below her hips, and seeing her hair all the way down for the first time took her by surprise.

She swallowed the temptation to play with the sleek locks and distracted herself by picking the brush up and pulling it delicately through the long tresses. Once she'd brushed Kagome's hair out, Allura focused on the two longer sections of her bangs. With deft fingers, she worked each side into a loose braid, where she pinned them both in the back of her hair. She took a look in the mirror and she smiled. "There!"

Kagome looked at her reflection in the mirror, and she felt her breath running away from her. The memory of her dream came back with enough force to send her reeling. The dress and having her hair in this style were a sort of silhouette to the figure she'd seen in her dream. The only things missing were the marks and pink pupils.

"What is it?" Allura asked when she spotted Kagome's uneasy expression.

"I… Maybe this isn't the right look for me," Kagome said after a moment's consideration. Allura frowned and shook her head.

"I think you look wonderful," she said. She looked her over, and she felt a pang of recollection. It felt stronger than before at seeing her dressed up like this. "It's a really good look on you," she finally said.

Kagome glanced down at her feet that were hidden under the hem of the dress she wore. She jumped when Allura took her hand and pulled her forward with her. "Come on," she encouraged. With her gentle urging, Kagome eventually relented and went with her.

They left to join the rest, and it didn' take long to stumble across someone.

"Coran!" Allura called out, and the orange-haired Altean perked up at hearing her voice.

"Princes, the Arusian's king wants to see-!" Coran began as he turned, but his sentence ran short when he was taken by surprise at seeing the contrastingly-different version of Kagome. He choked instead, turning and coughing into his arm. Once he was done, he turned back around and saw the two watching him, confused.

"Coran? What is it?" Allura asked, and he hurried to shake his head.

"Nothing, Princess," he said after a second. "I suppose I was just taken by surprise at seeing Kagome dressed up." He looked back at Allura. "As I was saying, the Arusian King would like to see you."

"Oh, right!" Allura exclaimed, and she looked at Kagome. "I should go ahead and meet him. You should come join everyone when you're ready."

Kagome nodded slowly and Allura went off on her own, leaving her behind with Coran. She felt Coran watching her, and she turned to meet his stare. "What?"

Coran froze as he scrambled for something to say. "I-I expected that Princess Allura would rather you wear your armor like the others," he finally said, and he tensed when Kagome rose a brow as if she didn't believe him. A second later she looked away, and he sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I thought the same," she said with a quiet laugh. "It's nice, but I sorta feel out of place wearing this," she added on as an afterthought, and Coran looked her way. He was about to say something in response, but he stopped himself at hearing a new voice.

"Kagome, there you are."

Both Coran and Kagome turned towards the voice, and they saw Shiro heading their way

"I was wondering where you were," Shiro said as he finally caught sight of the only one he hadn't seen since the celebration began. Something about her looked different, and he took a second glance at her. "Are you wearing a dress?"

Kagome straightened her posture, and she nervously looked to her side. "I- yeah. It was Allura's idea," she said.

Shiro blinked when she said that. It definitely made her look different than normal, but not in a negative way. "It looks nice," he told her after a short moment of looking at her in it.

Kagome looked unsure when he said that, but she shook her head and moved past him. "I'm gonna go find the others. See you around."

Shiro watched as she left. Something about her seemed more different than usual, and he frowned, looking back at Coran. "Is she alright?"

Coran turned towards him and shrugged. "Not sure," he said. Though, he could definitely tell she had something on her mind. When Shiro left to join the others for the start of the celebration, Coran exhaled and shook his head.

He was alone, and he found himself recalling a distant figure in his past, no matter how recent it all still _felt_ to him. "It can't be…" he whispered to himself. His eyes watered and he felt his frown deepen. That pang of familiarity returned to his chest, settling over him like a ten-ton weight. There was no mistaking it, and if the markings were there, then she'd be a near-perfect reflection of her.

Azilu, the original paladin of the white lion, and childhood friend to King Alfor.

* * *

"Woah check you out!" Lance exclaimed once he caught sight of Kagome. It was a first, seeing her wear something that actually revealed her slim figure. Her hair was down, which was another first for him and the rest of the team. "You look great!"

Kagome paused at his examination, his words causing Hunk and Keith to turn towards her, as well. She froze and folded her arms over her chest, looking away when she felt her cheeks stain red. "If everyone keeps saying that then I'm gonna really get embarrassed," she finally said. "It's just a dress. Is it really that different?"

"Heck yeah!" Lance exclaimed. "I don't think I've seen you outside of your armor or out of that baggy hoodie."

"Or with your hair down," Keith added on, taking in the stark contrast from what he was used to seeing.

"How come you're the only one who doesn't have to wear your armor?" Hunk asked and she shrugged.

"This was Allura's idea," she said then.

"Hoorah!"

The group of four heard the Arusian King shout, and they looked over to see him holding up the communicator Allura had just given him. The rest of the Arusians joined him in the cheer, and Hunk looked back at the other three.

"Y'know what?" he said, "maybe we should come up with a cheer like that."

"Huh?" Lance looked at him when he said that, tilting his head to the side

"Yeah, like a team cheer or something," Hunk said.

"Hm…." Lance closed his eyes and thought about it for a few moments. "Oh! Oh, I got it," he said after a moment. "How about uh… I say Vol, you say Tron. Vol-!" He trailed off, motioning to Keith to finish the other part of the cheer. The latter looked at him, confused.

"Uh… Vol...tron?" he said.

"No, no, no," Lance shook his head. "The cheer has the instructions in it. I say Vol, and you say…"

"... Vol-tron?" Keith repeated, and Lance looked like a cross between exhausted and exasperated. Keith looked at him, confused.

"... we'll work on it," Lance mumbled.

Keith looked at Kagome and Hunk, and he shrugged as Lance lifted his cup to his mouth. He took a drink, only to retch and spit it out a second later.

"Oh, yuck!" Lance cried and looked into the cup in wonder at what he had just tasted. He turned and saw Coran walking past, and he shot a hand out to catch him. "Coran, what is _this_?"

Coran looked at him, tilted his head to the side. "Oh, this?" He held his own cup, and Lance nodded. "It's nunvill, nectar of the gods."

"Well it tastes like hotdog water and feet," Lance said, nearly gagging at the memory alone. Coran nodded and smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "It also works as a nice hair tonic!" He dipped his fingers into his cup and flicked a few drops of nunvill onto his mustache. To Lance's obvious horror, Coran's mustache sparkled and magically grew a bit. He gagged again and held the cup away from him.

"Oh, gross. Why'd I drink it?" he mumbled to himself as Coran walked off. It was quiet for only a few short seconds before Kagome looked up at him, curious.

"Lance?" she asked, and he looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"... How do you know what feet taste like?" Kagome asked, and the other two with them silently turned to eye Lance, awaiting his answer.

"Look, I don't wanna talk about that, but point is, this stuff tastes terrible," Lance said.

She hid her smile behind her face, but it didn't do much. She soon ended up giggling, and Lance groaned.

* * *

Coran caught sight of Shiro, and he went to join him where he was near the entrance of the castle.

"Not feeling well?" he asked as he stopped next to Shiro. "You should try some nunvill. It really settles the stomach, not to mention it really brightens your smile." He offered a cup to Shiro, but he didn't take it.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let everyone just wander in and out of the castle for so long," Shiro said, folding his arms over his chest in worry. "It doesn't seem safe."

Coran tilted his head before shrugging. "Oh, no need to worry," he said. "These Arusians won't hurt anything-" Coran cut himself off when his eyes landed on a few Arusians playing with one of the many hover platters. He looked away and back at Shiro. "Well, they won't hurt _much._ " As he said that, there was a distinctive crashing sound and he cringed.

Shiro looked at him, still unsure.

"And anyway," Coran said, pushing the prior noise to the back of his mind. "It's only fair for them to get to see the inside of the castle that's been sitting on their plant for so many years."

"It's not the Arusians I'm worried about," Shiro said. "Zarkon's out there, and we don't know when he's going to attack next." He moved away from Coran. "I'm going to go do a check of the perimeter, just in case."

"Oh, alright," Coran said as Shiro walked off.

… … ...

Hidden near the castle of lions and out of sight, Sendak and Haxus watched as Shiro left. They were overlooked in their hiding spot.

"Commander Sendak, the sentries are all in position near the Arusian village," Haxus said, and Sendak nodded.

"Good. It seems luck is on our side," Sendak said. "The castle defenses are down and the door is wide open for all these Arusians to go in and leave. Something like this should be simple for you to infiltrate."

Something caught Haxus' eye. It was the drone Pidge reprogrammed into helping them.

"I might not even need to infiltrate," Haxus said, and he nodded towards where Pidge was with Rover at her side. "Look, the smallest one seems to have a Galra drone they've repurposed. If I can get close enough to clone its signature code, then I can just send our bomb drone in without any of them even realizing it."

Sendak smirked and he nodded in approval. "I knew that you would not be a disappointment, Haxus."

* * *

Allura was watching the others take part in the celebration. Along with her, resting on her shoulders, were the four Altean mice that had found her during the party. She leaned on the railing, watching below.

"Look at them, the new Paladins of Voltron," she said to herself and the mice with her. "The very fate of the entire universe rests on their shoulders." She fell silent when she saw Keith spit his nunvill out on Hunk, and the latter then turned around with two sticks of Arusian food covering his eyes. Her expression faltered when they both laughed, and she sighed. "I must maintain an image of strength so no one ever realizes just how worried I am about the fate of our mission," she mumbled then, and one of the mice squeaked. Allura looked at it. "Let's… keep that a secret between us."

The blue mouse with red eyes squeaked again, and Allura perked up.

"Oh, really? Who else has secrets?" she asked.

The same mouse used one of the others as a demonstration, and Allura giggled quietly.

"Hunk tried to eat _what_? Hm… that is rather funny," she said. "What other secrets do you know?"

The same blue mouse posed and pretended to shoot at things, very clearly imitating Lance, and Allura laughed again.

"Yes, that does seem like Lance," she said. She looked at the mouse, waiting for it to continue. It pulled on an overtly cute look and squeaked, and Allura reeled back, astonished.

"Pidge is a _what_?!" Allura looked at the mouse incredulously. A second later, she darted her attention out to search for Pidge in the main section of the room. She observed her putting some Arusian food into a bag, only to pick her ear with the end of one of the small sticks not even a second later. Allura looked for Kagome next, and she silently compared the two in personality and more. She glanced at the mice next, doubtful. "Are… Are you sure?"

The mouse squeaked in response, and Allura frowned, her suspicions jostled.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this."

She went to catch up with Pidge, who had Rover right behind her.

"Hello Pidge," Allura said loud enough to catch the smaller girl's attention, and Pidge looked up at her.

"Oh, hey," she said in response. She stopped when Allura blocked her path, looking up at her with mild confusion.

"So," Allura began. "You and I haven't had the chance to well… really talk," she said. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Pidge tilted her head to the side, still confused. "Oh… well, okay," she said. "I like peanut butter and peanut butter cookies, but I find peanuts to be gross. They're just so _dry_ ," Pidge said. "Oh, I also sweat a lot. That's unrelated to the peanuts. I mean it in general."

Allura was a bit stunned, and Pidge tried to leave in her silence. She didn't get far before Allura hopped back in front of her, stopping her.

"O-Oh that's certainly nice to know, but I was hoping for something a tad bit more… _personal_?" Allura hinted, and she winked. "After all, we have a _lot_ in common, don't we?"

Pidge blinked, her expression blank. "Like what?"

"Oh…! Well," Allura paused and looked for something she could say without exposing her reason for the conversation. "Both of us had our fathers taken away by Zarkon."

"Yeah, but I'm getting mine back," Pidge fired back right away. She realized what she said after the words left her mouth, and she felt terrible when she saw the flash of pain in Allura's eyes. "Allura…. I'm so sorry, I-I really didn't mean-"

"I understand," she said after taking a breath. She looked at Pidge again, and she pulled a smile on her face. "I just want you to know that you can come to me to confide in. If there's _anything_ you ever want to talk about…"

Pidge remained silent as Allura let the end of her sentence hang as an opening, and she leaned in closer.

" _Anything_ at all," she said, and Pidge finally seemed to react.

"Oh… well I do have something I need to tell you," she said, and Allura brightened up.

"I had a feeling you did~!" she sang cheerfully. "What is it?"

"I'm leaving the team," Pidge said, and Allura opened her mouth to say something, only to catch herself when she realized Pidge hadn't just admitted to being a girl.

"Wait, what?!" Allura exclaimed, fully taken aback by Pidge's answer.

"I was able to decrypt the information from the Galra ship about where my family could be," she said. "At the very least, they were there at one point, so there might be some information left there if they aren't. I'm leaving tonight."

"Pidge, you can't leave," Allura said, still trying to get a grip of what Pidge said. "You're one of the six Paladins of Voltron, we _need_ you. As a member of Voltron, you have a sacred pledge to defend the universe."

"My first priority is my family," Pidge responded. "I thought you'd be able to understand how I feel! If you had a chance to get your father, your family back, wouldn't you do what you had to in order to do it?"

Allura frowned and Pidge looked at the ground. "Pidge-"

"I'm sorry, Allura," she said as she stepped away from the princess. "I need to go tell the others, too."

She went off to find Shiro, and she saw him outside the castle. She walked past the area where Haxus had hidden, and when she walked by with Rover following her, he was able to clone the drone's signature code.

"Hey, Shiro?" Pidge nervously called out. "I need to talk with you."

Shiro turned to look at her, and he nodded. "Okay," he said as he followed her back into the castle.

Once they were out of sight, Haxus reconfigured the bomb drone to have Rover's signature and activated it. He left to wait further away as the bomb flew inside the castle's open doors.

* * *

It'd been a while since he'd last seen Kagome, and Coran went off to try and find her. He recalled Shiro's earlier inquiry as to if she was alright, and after not seeing her for a while, he felt a bit worried. He didn't have to search hard. He found her hidden away in the quiet space of the bridge with Kirara on her lap. She didn't seem to notice him as he entered, and he came to a halt a few feet away from her.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, and Kagome sat up some at realizing she wasn't alone anymore. After a moment, she shrugged, and he took that as a good enough sign to give her company. He sat down beside her on the steps she'd placed herself on. He saw her turn back to Kirara, her expression clouded some. "Something on your mind, Kagome?"

She blinked and looked up, getting startled from her thoughts at his sudden question. After a moment, she shook her head, denying it. "No, everything's okay."

Coran could tell she was hiding what she really wanted to say, and he gently pried at her. "I think you know that's not true," he said. "Hiding it won't make it go away, and it probably won't even make you feel better. Especially if you hide it from the team you're supposed to have an open-bond with."

Kagome felt her frown deepen. "... I know."

"What is it?" he asked. "You'll feel better once you talk about it."

She looked down, contemplating on if she should say anything. Her fingers dug into the sleek material of the gown she wore as Coran watched her silently, ready to lend a listening ear. He didn't push her, merely waiting for her to form the words on her own. "I- I guess I'm just missing home…" she said. Coran frowned when she said that. She didn't look at him as she said that, and he couldn't shake the sinking suspicion she wasn't being truthful.

"Oh, you too?" Lance asked as he stepped into the bridge with the pair. The two looked at him as he came over to sit with them.

"Oh, Lance, you're here too," Coran said as Lance settled down next to his other side. He, much like Kagome, looked to have something on his mind.

After a few moments of silence, Lance looked up from his hands on his legs. "Hey, Coran…? How far away do you think Earth is?"

He stood up and urged the others up, too. "Well, let's take a look," he said. He brought up the holographic map of the entire universe, showing the small dot that was Earth. "Earth is right there." The next second, he started moving the map. "We're all…. the way… over…" For several seconds Coran moved the map at a rapid speed, but he still didn't reach Arus.

Lance watched the hundreds of thousands of little dots move in rapid succession as Coran spun the map around to Arus. A forlorn expression danced in his eyes, and he frowned. "You ever noticed how far the planets are from each other?"

Coran nodded, and he stopped moving the map when Lance stepped up to it. Kagome came up on his other side, and she placed a gentle and comforting hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Like, they're _really_ far away," he said. "Like Earth. It's so far away that I can't even _see_ it." Lance looked down, disparaged. "The blue oceans… blue skies and white clouds, green grass… I- I… I can't see any of it."

Coran heard his tearful statement, and he came to stand beside Lance. He offered him a sympathetic look as he rested his hand on his other shoulder. "I understand how you feel," Coran said. "I miss Altea."

Lance nodded, and he looked from Coran to Kagome. "I-I know that we're supposed to be these brave paladins and defenders, but if I'm being honest? I just really wanna go home…"

"I know how you feel, believe me," Coran said. "If I could go home, I would without giving it a second thought."

"I really miss rain a-and splashing in puddles," Lance said, and he looked at Kagome. The small, understanding smile made him feel better, but the feeling didn't fade.

"Rain?" Coran asked, and the other two looked at him.

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "I-It's water that falls from the sky.

"Oh, we had something like that on Altea," Coran said. "Only it wasn't water."

"... what was it?" Kagome asked.

"Rocks! Razor-sharp and boiling-hot," he said. "Oh, they could knock a hole right through your head!"

Lance and Kagome looked at each other before they looked back at Coran.

"Oh… Sounds like a fun time," Lance eventually said.

"Yeah," Coran nodded, a fond smile on his face. He looked at the two and motioned for them to follow him "Now, how about we go back and enjoy the celebration?"

The pair nodded silently and turned to leave alongside Coran. As they were leaving, Lance caught sight of the drone.

"Hey, Rover," he said, but the little drone ignored him. He paused, noticing something wrong. "Hey… you're here, but where's Pidge?" He turned, but as he did he saw the colors on it change as it readied to detonate. He turned back to Coran and Kagome. "Look out!" Lance shouted.

Kagome heard him and looked back in time to see as the bomb readied to detonate. She grabbed Kirara from her shoulder and guarded her against her chest. Lance and she dived at the same moment, both of them shielding Coran's turned back. They were all thrown forward as the explosion ricocheted through the castle.

* * *

"Pidge, what do you mean?"

Shiro had joined Pidge with Allura, Hunk, and Keith as she told them her decision. Pidge looked down for a moment before lifting her gaze to meet Shiro's again.

"The download from the Galra ship is enough to point me in the right direction, at least, so I know where I need to start my search. I've got a pod all set, too, and the green lion will stay here for you to find a new paladin for it."

"You can't just leave!" Keith snapped as he approached Pidge. Pidge turned to glare at him, narrowing her eyes.

"You can't tell me what to do!" she shot back. "I have to find my family!"

"If you leave, then we're down a pilot and we can't form Voltron. That means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You aren't the only one who has a family," Keith said. "These Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has a family."

Hunk rose a hand and spoke up. "U-Um… yeah, I have a family. They're on Earth. I want to be with them, is that something that… something we can do?"

Allura looked at Hunk, a frown imprinted on her face. "You want to leave, too?"

"Well, yeah, I miss my family," he said. "Look, Voltron is cool. Being a part of it is cool, but I never signed up for a life of fighting aliens out in outer space."

"You're putting the lives of _two_ people over the lives of everyone else in the universe!" Keith snapped at Pidge, stepping closer to her. "You-!"

"Keith!" Shiro grabbed onto Keith's arm and pulled him back. "You can't force people to operate as a team. They have to want to be part of it." Keith fell silent, glaring at the ground but listening to Shiro. Shiro turned to face Pidge. "Listen, Pidge, if you're set on leaving, we won't make you stay. Please just think about what you're doing," he said, looking at her.

Pidge looked down, guilt flashing in her eyes, but she didn't change her mind. "I'm sorry, everyone," she said. "I have to go. You'll find someone else to pilot the green lion."

With those words, she turned to leave with Rover following behind her.

"I can't believe this!" Allura clasped her hands together over her heart, her expression weighed down with a mix of emotions. "The entire team is falling apart. What are-!"

Her words were cut off when a large explosion rocked the castle. Pidge froze mid-step, even as the Arusians went running from the castle.

"It came from that way!"

The rest of them ran off in the direction the sound had come from, and they made it to the bridge of the castle. They saw Coran on the ground, but he wasn't hurt. Shiro went to help him up.

"What happened?" Shiro asked, and Coran rubbed his head as he looked around. The area is still full of smoke.

"I'm… not sure," Coran said. The smoke slowly cleared, and Allura saw the state of the power crystal.

"The crystal is destroyed!" she cried. As the smoke lifted, they were able to see the two unconscious in the ground, bruised up and bloodied. "Oh, no! Kagome, Lance!"

The group hurried over to the two on the ground. As they got closer, they saw Kirara tucked under Kagome's arm. She wasn't hurt any, but she looked ready for a fight. She saw Allura, and she bounded over to her, meowing loudly.

"We have to get them to the infirmary," Pidge said.

"Without the crystal, there's nothing we can do," Allura said. "The castle has no power."

"They look really bad," Hunk said. His voice conveyed the nervousness and unease they all felt.

Before anything else could be said or done, the Arusian King ran into the room. "Lion warriors, we're in need of help!" he cried. "Our village is being attacked!"

"We have to get to the lions!" Keith said. Before they could move, Allura's voice stopped them.

"You _can't_. They're sealed in their hangers, and without power, we can't get them out," she said. "We're completely defenseless."

The Arusian King looked up. "You cannot help us?"

"We'll help you," Keith said. "We just-" He cut himself short when he couldn't think of what to say. Lance groaned from his spot on the ground, but he didn't wake up. Kagome remained deathly silent, and Hunk glanced back at them.

"Oh, _man_ , this is bad," he said.

"We'll need to get a new crystal in order to get the castle working again," Coran said. "But there's a problem. We need a ship in order to go get a crystal."

"What about the pod I was loading?" Pidge suggested. "I left the bay door open. We can still get to it."

"I'll be able to use the scanner in the pod to try and find the closest Balmera," Coran said, and he looked at Hunk. "You'll come with me. I'll need the help of someone big to transport the crystal."

"What's a Balmera?" Hunk asked. Coran urged him to follow behind him, and he did. Pidge went with them, taking them to the pod she'd been preparing.

"No time right now," Coran said. "It's where the crystals come from. I'll explain more on the way there!"

"I'm going to go see what's happening at the village," Keith said, heading for the exit, and Allura followed him.

"I'm coming, too," she said. Allura tried to set Kirara down so she could remain with Kagome, but she refused. Allura was stunned, but a small smile appeared on her face a second later. "If something's wrong, you want to help…"

Allura relented and let Kirara go. If it was needed, they could use her larger form to help get the Arusians to safer ground.

"I'll tend to Kagome and Lance, and I'll keep watch of the castle," Shiro said. "Be careful you two."

Allura nodded. "We will," she said as she went with Keith.

Shiro looked back at the two on the ground. He needed to guard the entrance, but he had to take them with him. He couldn't leave them here on their own. He went over to them and carefully picked them up so he could move them out to the castle's entrance with him.

"Hang on, you two," he pleaded quietly. "Just hang on. Help will be here soon."

He was almost there, but in the distance, he was able to make out a large figure heading towards the castle. His eyes narrowed and he carefully set the two down out of the way.

"Sendak!" Shiro ran to the castle's entrance to cut off Sendak as he was trying to go in.

"Stand aside," Sendak said as he saw Shiro. He didn't slow any, and he kept heading towards the entry point.

Shiro planted himself firmly, blocking the entrance. "No! I'm not letting you get in."

"You won't stop me," Sendak growled in response. Shiro activated his prosthetic arm and ran at Sendak, pulling him into a battle.

* * *

" _It's very alarming how reckless someone as delicate as you can get."_

_The disapproving voice caused her to roll her eyes, and the smaller Altean looked up at the Galra Emperor. "Oh, so now_ _ **I'm**_ _the reckless one?" she challenged playfully. "I'm always fixing the mistakes so I don't wanna hear it."_

_The disapproving tone bled into the look he gave her. Soon enough, he joined her on the surface she sat, his larger form towering over her delicate-in-comparison one. It was silent, and she let her attention rest on her companion. After a moment he felt the weight of her gaze, and he looked at her in confusion. "What, Azilu?"_

_She jumped when he abruptly spoke, not expecting him to break the silence that had built up around them. She looked down a second later as she shook her head. Her eyes glazed over with moisture, but she didn't let a single tear fall. "It's nothing, Zarkon…"_

_Her heart clenched in her chest, and she tried to ignore the painful squeeze in favor of savoring the moment. It seemed like these moments were only ever short and fleeting. She wouldn't say it. She couldn't say it. Not anymore. That she was positively and undeniably in love with him. After all, it was too late. He'd fallen wholeheartedly for Honerva, and she'd hide her feelings forever if it meant they'd be happy._

_There was only one other who'd ever know her feelings, and it'd never be the Emperor beside her._

Her movements were sluggish as she slowly sat up. She could feel the weight of her dream, if it could even be called that, in her mind, but it was all a white haze she couldn't sort through. She felt the blood on her, both dried and wet, and she winced when she felt a sharp, searing pain shoot through her torso and abdomen.

She saw Lance lying unconscious, and she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, slowly and carefully crawling over to him. The dress didn't make it easy, but she eventually reached him. Ignoring the pain she felt shooting through her, she pulled him up onto her lap. "Oh no, Lance…" She set her hand on the side of his face. "Lance, please, _please… wake up_ …" Tears stung in her eyes, and she cradled him close.

Her pleas went unanswered when Lance remained unconscious. She looked up, and she saw Shiro fighting against Sendak. She turned her gaze back down to Lance. They'd both shielded Coran from the blast, and she wasn't in much better condition than he was, but that didn't matter. Kagome inhaled, the deep breath she took burning her lungs sharply, and she grimaced in pain as she pulled what she could of her powers to the surface. She didn't have much strength, but she hoped it'd be enough to help Lance a little.

She let the pink glow encase Lance, her body crying out in pain as she drained herself even more without any repose. The strain on her doubled, but she was able to give a tired sigh when she saw some of the damages healing up on Lance. It wasn't much, but it was all she could do.

She heard someone approaching her, and she turned defiant eyes up. She knew she couldn't put up a fight, but she refused to lay over and let herself be taken.

"So hurt, yet you're still eager for a fight," Haxus said as he approached the heavily injured pair. "Most people would roll over and give in."

"I'm not most people," Kagome growled out as she urged herself back up onto her feet. She grimaced in pain, tasting blood when she got on her feet. Her head spun, but she held herself firmly, staring down her opponent.

Haxus smirked at her. "You're close to death, and you want to fight? I admire this sort of dedication. If it's a warrior's death you want, then that's what you'll get!" He ran at her, hand snatching her by her throat as he lifted her off her feet. The grip was tight, firm. It was enough to make her head swim from lack of air, but not enough to cut off airflow entirely. He smiled and turned back to Sendak and Shiro.

"Unless you want to bear witness to the death of her, you best surrender," Haxus said.

Shiro's eyes widened when he saw Kagome suspended in the air with Haxus' hand gripping her throat. "Kagome!"

Sendak struck him, and Shiro was knocked unconscious from the force of the hit. Haxus dropped Kagome carelessly to the ground and grinned at her. She landed on her hands and knees as she gasped for air.

"I know what I said, but I have no intention of killing you," he said as Sendak came closer, dragging Shiro's unconscious form behind him. "She was trying to heal the other one, and it appears she wasted what was left of her strength in order to do so," he told him.

Sendak fell to one knee in front of Kagome, snatching her face with his normal hand. He gripped and turned her head with enough force to make her cry out in pain. Blue eyes flared in anger as he tilted her face towards his, and he smirked.

"Seems this one might be too unique to just kill." He spotted the pink necklace she wore, and he felt curiosity rise. "What's this bizarre thing?" It was glowing bright pink, even under the dark sky. He let go of her long enough to reach for it, and she instantly shot her hand out when she realized what he was doing, bringing her palm down on the side of his face as hard as she could. The strike stunned him, his head tilted ever-so-slightly to the side.

"... d-don't…" she stammered. She was so weak, yet her voice carried an undeniable trace of unrelenting power. He turned back to her and glared, anger mounting from her hit. At the same time, he found her unshakeable bravery laudable. That feeling soon faded.

"No wonder these eyes looked so familiar," he growled as he got closer to her face. "These are the eyes of someone who's seen war and death in abundance." His hand curled around her throat, and she was slammed back against the ground with enough force to make her blackout. "Here's to hoping you survive the injuries you've sustained, little warrior. It'd be such a waste for you to die when you've got so much potential."

* * *

The Arusian King pointed towards the flames overtaking the village below. In the flames and explosions, the outlines and shadows of sentries were barely visible.

"I'll go in for a closer look," he told Allura, and before she could respond, he was already heading down into the fire. When he got down there and got a good look, all he saw were broken sentries posed to look as if they were standing.

"Damnit!" he snarled. "Allura, it's all just a diversion to separate us and thin the defense at the castle," he said, and Allura turned towards the castle when she heard him.

"Oh no! We have to get back," Allura said, and both of them raced back to the castle as fast as they could. When they got close enough, the castle's particle barrier went up, preventing them from being able to enter the castle.

Keith slammed his fist against the barrier. "We're too late!"

"They've got a crystal. They have control of the castle," Allura said. "They're going to take Voltron!"

"Can't we just break through the barrier?" Keith asked, summoning his bayard as he prepared to strike the barrier.

Allura shook her head. "Hits like that won't have any effect on the castle's barrier. We need to find a way to stop them from the inside…"

"Keith… you there?"

Pidge's voice carried through the communication device in his helmet, and Keith nodded. "Pidge? Where are you?"

"Inside the castle," she said. "Sendak's behind this. He's got Kagome, Lance, and Shiro, and he's taken control of the castle. It looks like he's preparing for launch."

"Pidge, if they've already started the launch sequence, then we won't have much time to stop them," Allura said.

"What do I do?" Pidge asked.

"You need to get to the main engine control panel, and then you have to disconnect the primary turbine from the Central Energy Chamber," Allura said. "If you can do that, then it'll force Sendak to restart the whole system in order to try and launch again. It could possibly give us enough time to come up with a way to stop them."

"Right!" Pidge said.

* * *

Sendak walked past the group of unconscious humans, sparing a little longer of a look at Kagome before he finally looked at Haxus. "Make contact with Emperor Zarkon," he said, and Haxus opened communications, bringing up Zarkon on screen.

Zarkon's frigid glare landed on him. "Sendak."

"Emperor Zarkon, I've completed my mission. The Altean castle is under my control, along with all of the Voltron lions," Sendak said. "I am preparing for launch, and they will be delivered to you shortly."

"This is most pleasing news," Zarkon rumbled in response. "You've done your job. Vrepit Sa!"

"Vrepit Sa!" Sendak responded, and shortly after the transmission ended.

"Hnn...ng…"

Sendak turned at the faint whimper, and he felt an amused smirk appear on his face at catching vibrant blue eyes staring him down. If looks could kill, he'd be dead three times over by now.

"Seems you'll survive your injuries," he said, and he walked over to her. She was tied and bound, hands cuffed behind her so she was nothing more than a meager threat. He knelt and gripped her chin again, letting his claws sink into her flesh and leave angry, red streaks. "While your friends might end up being killed or thrown into the gladiator ring, I'm sure a more refined position would call to you." He pressed his thumb beside her eye, smirking at the defiant shine gleaming in the radiant blue. "Once you submit, you'll make a good warrior of the Empire."

Kagome glared at him. "I'd… sooner die," she panted, the words scratching her aching throat on the way out.

Sendak lowered his hand had stood back up, glowering down at her. "Haxus, ready the castle for takeoff."

"Yes, Commander," Haxus said.

* * *

Pidge reached the Central Energy Chamber, and she headed over to where the engine was. "Okay, Allura! I'm near the turbine. I think it's already started," she said.

"You'll have to hurry then," Allura responded. "Cross the catwalk to get to the main column in the center."

Pidge nodded to herself as she made her way to where she was instructed to go. "Okay, now what?" she asked, waiting for further instruction.

"Open the hatch and find the central computer control hub. You need to enter the following sequence…-"

"Wait, wait! Allura, which one is it?" Pidge asked. "All the labels are in Altean!" As the launch started, energy swelled up in the chamber and it caused a disruption between Pidge's communication with Allura. "Allura..? Allura! Uh… oh…" Pidge looked at what was in front of her, starting to panic when she realized she no longer had contact with Allura.

After a moment, she closed her eyes. "Oh well!" she cried as she slammed her bayard into the engine turbine. "Ah!" She got knocked back, but she heaved a sigh of relief when she managed to stop the launch.

… … …

The castle's launch stalled, and Sendak looked to Haxus for the reason.

"The main engine just shorted out," Haxus said. He pulled a screen up, and on it showed Pidge rushing out of the Central Energy Chamber.

"Find the saboteur and eliminate him."

Shiro finally came to, and he heard Sendak's orders for Haxus to find Pidge hidden in the castle somewhere.

"I want you to find the little runt and terminate him!" Sendak snapped at Haxus.

"Commander Sendak, I've received a transmission being generated from somewhere within the caste," Haxus said, and he played the communication channel out loud. It enabled them to hear Allura and Pidge as they spoke.

" _We don't have much time before they get the ship running again,"_ Allura said _. "You need to shut the particular barrier off, that way we can get inside."_

" _Right!"_ Pidge responded. " _What do I need to do?"_

" _You need to get below the man hull. That's where the particle barrier generator is."_

"She's telling the intruder how to take down our defenses," Haxus said with a scowl.

"That's true," Sendak said, "but she's also given away his location. Find him and kill him."

Under his distraction, Shiro turned to Kagome. He was relieved to see her awake, but she didn't look in the best condition. The red streaks on her face called his attention. They were fresh, and he knew who'd caused them.

"Kagome…!" he whispered, calling out for her in hopes she could hear him. She didn't move. Instead, she kept her icy glare fixed on Sendak.

… … …

"Pidge, have you gotten to the generator room?" Allura asked, and Pidge nodded to herself.

"Uhh… Yeah," she said. "I'm not sure if I can figure this out though. This technology is really advanced."

"You can," Allura encouraged. "Remember, the lives of the others are at stake. You can't give up, Pidge."

Pidge nodded after a moment, regaining some confidence "Okay… Allura, what do I do?"

"You'll need to be careful," she said. "Shutting down the barrier can be very dangerous because it's also a weapon. Be sure to remain away from the energy arcs."

"Keep away from the giant lightning bolts, gotcha," Pidge said. Before anything else could be said, Pidge was shoved to the side by Rover, narrowly missing the lasers shot at her by Galra sentries.

Pidge ducked and took cover, hiding below a structure. She pulled up a map from the computer in her armor and scowled. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed. "My only way out is two floors up?" She stayed hidden, but the sentries kept firing at her. She thought for a moment before an idea came to her.

She made a hologram of herself and sent it off towards the energy arcs. The sentries fired at it, and it was destroyed. Along with it, one of the energy arcs was hit. It exploded and took out a sentry. Pidge stood and ran for cover, summoning her bayard and using the grappling hook on it to reach the exit shaft above her.

The remaining sentries fired at her, but she managed to get up through the exit with Rover. Once up, she let out a sigh of relief. "Man, I can't believe that actually worked," she muttered to herself.

* * *

Haxus reached the Central Energy Chamber, speaking with Sendak as he made his rounds.

"Powering up sub-panels," Haxus said.

"Sub-panel energy transducer is a go," Sendak responded.

Haxus nodded. "Aye, Sir. Opening pathway to link with the bridge. Initializing main cluster reboot."

Pidge caught sight of him from her perch on a ladder. She worked to hack into the castle's computer system through an open panel using her armor's computer. When it worked, she smirked "Gotcha!"

"Initializing complete," Haxus said. "I'm all set for main power-up."

"Bridge is a go," Sendak responded.

"Powering up."

As he began powering up the engine, Pidge managed to overload it. "And up, and up," Pidge said as the engine began to overload. The alarms began blaring and Pidge shrugged. "You do not wanna be touching metal when this thing overloads."

Haxus looked around as the alarms started to blare. "Sir, something is wrong." Before he's able to realize what the issue was, he's caught up in the blast as the engine explodes. Pidge jumped from the ladder, and Rover caught her, hovering her in mid-air to avoid the blast. Rover lowers Pidge carefully to the ground, to where Haxus was.

Haxus caught sight of her and he looked on in disbelief. " _You're_ the one causing all the trouble?" he asked. "A mere child?"

Pidge glared. "I'm not a child. I'm a Paladin of Voltron."

Haxus laughed at her claim. "Allow me to tell you something, _child_ ," he said as he drew his sword. "I am a soldier of the Galra Empire. Nothing will stop me but triumph or death!" Haxus snarled and ran at Pidge, sword prepared to strike her down.

Pidge dodged and swung her grappling hook at Haxus. He caught it and threw Pidge to the side, smirking when he turned to her.

"Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide," he said as he approached her, blade raised. Before he could strike her, however, Rover flew in front of him and got in the way. When he's distracted, Pidge rolled and dived under him, knocking him off balance. Rover slammed into him and knocked him to the side of the catwalk, and Haxus reached out, taking hold of Rover to keep from falling.

"Rover!" Pidge cried. She reached for it, but Rover deactivated before she could grab it. Both Rover and Haxus fell from the strip, falling to their demise.

Pidge felt tears stinging in her eyes as she stared down the way Rover had gone. Her mourning was interrupted by Sendak, and she stood up.

"Haxus, report in."

"Haxus is gone!" Pidge shouted. "You're next, Sendak!"

… … …

"You've slowed me down enough," Sendak growled. "This ship is mine. Turn yourself over to me immediately!"

" _Never!_ " Pidge shouted in response.

Sendak turned to the three lined up together. When his eyes met steely-blue, he smirked. "How about you come say hello to your friend?" he suggested, looking at Kagome. He lifted his prosthetic arm and ejected it to snatch the small raven-haired girl by her torso. He squeezed her injured frame with it hard, and she cried out in pain.

"Let her go!" Shiro yelled, and Sendak's smirk widened.

"I don't usually give prisoners what they want, but this one time I'll make a special occasion," Sendak said. Next, he looked at Kagome. He threw her to the opposite side of the room, where she hit the wall and landed on her side, unable to catch herself even if she tried due to the handcuffs binding her hands.

"Kagome!" Shiro yelled, biting his lip when Kagome remained motionless, seemingly knocked out from her hit.

" _Kagome!?"_ Pidge's worried voice made Sendak laugh. " _Don't you hurt her!"_

Sendak laughed again. "That's up to you," he said. "Turn yourself into me, and the rest will be spared the pain- for now." Sendak looked at Kagome laying on the floor with an amused smirk on his face. He approached her, and Shiro gritted his teeth.

"Get away from her!" Shiro yelled. "If you're going to hurt someone, make it me!"

Sendak chucked at his statement. "Hurting her is the easiest way to harm you, as well," he said. "Forced to sit and watch one of your comrades suffer." He knelt beside Kagome and turned her body some so she was on her back. "Especially when she's so close to death." He trailed a claw down her cheek, leaving a bloody streak in its wake.

He felt the weight of Shiro's glare, and he was amused even more when those blue eyes opened, refusing to give in. "I doubt it's the case, but if all Earthlings have this sort of unshakable spirit, then a visit to your planet might be worth it, after all. At the very least, we might find a few rare gems among the dirt- like you."

* * *

Pidge used a hologram to lure Sendak out of the bridge, and he pursued it down the hall. Once the coast was clear, Pidge ran in and went to the only one who looked to even be awake- Shiro.

"Shiro!" Pidge ran over to him and landed on her knees beside him. "Give me one moment and I'll have you free-!" She tried to reach for the cuffs holding his hands behind his back, but something gripped her from behind before she could touch them.

"Did you really think that little trick would work on me?" Sendak snarled as he lifted Pidge up with his gauntlet.

Allura and Keith ran into the Bridge, Kirara scurrying in after them. She didn't phase or try to fight. Instead, she ran over to Kagome, standing guard over her in worry.

Sendak glared at the two new figures. "Stay back!"

Before he could do anything, he was struck in the back by a blast from Lance's bayard rifle. Barely conscious, Lance lowered his weapon and slumped back again, drifting back into a comatose state not long after his very brief awakening.

Sendak was taken off guard from the blast, and Keith ran at him head-on. He threw his arm towards Keith, gripping him in his gauntlet, but it didn't last for long. Pidge threw her grappling hook, and it severed the energy chain of his arm making it useless.

Realizing he's been overpowered, Sendak backed up. "No!"

Allura accessed the bridge's computer as Keith ran back in to attack Sendak. Sendak caught Keith's blade, keeping him trapped there. Allura finished what she was doing and looked to Keith. "Keith, now!" she cried, and he nodded.

He kicked Sedak into the center of the bridge, and a barrier lifted up and around him before he could move. It trapped him, ending the fight and surrendering control of the castleship back to Allura.

Pidge went to untie Shiro, who was on his feet a second later, even as he stumbled some. He made his way to Kagome on the other side of the room, kneeling and checking on her. He felt like a weight had lifted from his chest when he saw her roughed up, but still alive.

* * *

They moved both Lance and Kagome carefully to the pods and set them each in one.

"Lance will have to remain in one of the sleep chambers for a day, but Kagome… she'll need to stay a bit longer," Allura said. "The explosion caused a lot of damage to her, and Sendak caused even more." She looked at Kagome in the pod and closed her eyes. "She'll be fine, though. They both will be, thankfully."

Once they both were taken care of and getting fixed up, Shiro went over to Pidge. She looked up when he came up to her.

"Pidge, thank you so much for everything you did today," he said. "You know, I can't help but feel like you were meant to be here, but… I understand you have a reason to leave. We won't hold you back if you still want to go."

Pidge looked down at her feet. "Dad used to tell me all the time about how close he was to his crew members. He said they were like family to him, and now I understand what he meant by that," she said, and Shiro smiled at her words. She looked back up and returned his smile. "I decided I'm going to stay," she said then. "We'll stop Zarkon together so he doesn't rip any more families apart."


	8. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Seven

* * *

Hunk and Coran hurried to the Balmera as quickly as they could for the sake of the others back at the castle. When the curve of the Balmera came into sight, Hunk turned towards Coran.

"Is that the Balmera?" he asked, and Coran nodded. "So it's a planet that grows the crystals you guys need for your ships?"

Coran shook his head. "Balmera aren't planets," he said. "They're ancient animals. They're petrified beings, but they're still alive." Hunk looked at him as he explained. "Their bodies create the crystals with their energy, and those crystals can be harvested." A fond smile appeared on his face as he brought up an image of a stunning surface of what the Balmera usually looked like. "I actually accompanied my grandfather many times to these majestic creatures back when he was building the Castle of Lions. Seeing the sparkling surface of a Balmera is quite the treat! I'll never forget the first time I saw one up close, that's for sure!"

They got closer to the Balmera, and Coran's unable to prevent the sad gasp that came from him upon seeing the surface.

"That doesn't look like the image you showed me," Hunk said, and Coran shook his head.

"Oh, the poor creature…" he whispered. "The Galra have turned it into a mining colony! They have no regard for it. They're completely destroying it!"

Hunk looked up in time to spot a patrolling fighter jet start following, and he glanced back at Coran. "Not good," he said, and Coran looked at him. "They've spotted us." A second later, the jet tailing them radioed them.

" _Attention unidentified craft: State your Ship ID, entry code, and landing destination."_

"Oh no," Hunk said. Though he tried not to, he felt the urge to panic. "Coran, what do we do?"

"Just remain calm," Coran said, and Hunk nodded, trying to do as Coran said. Meanwhile, Coran radioed back to the jet. "W-We don't intend to land," he said. "We're, uh, just looking around, if that's alright?"

" _Land immediately and prepare to be boarded."_

"O-Oh, okay," Coran responded. "We'll see you down below." He ended the transmission and the connection between then and the jet ran dead.

"Coran?" Hunk looked at the Altean, but he wasn't able to ask much else before Coran flipped the controls and took off in reverse.

"Hold on!" Coran said as he piloted the ship to get away from the jet. Hunk gripped whatever he could to brace himself, and he let out a screech as the jet fired at them. Coran sent the pod into a nosedive, steering it directly down a mining hole at full speed.

"Coran! What are you doing?!" Hunk cried as they shot deeper down the dark hole. His screams slowly died down when a few seconds passed, but they hadn't crashed. "Wait… just how deep is this thing?" he asked. Before anything could be said, a Galra structure appeared directly in front of them, and Hunk yelled again. Coran tried to dodge the structure, but the pod was going too fast to get off course. They collided with it, and the pod spun into a crash landing at the bottom of the hole.

After a few seconds, the pod opened, and both Coran and Hunk realized they were stuck there. Hunk looked around, only to freeze when he caught two pairs of glowing eyes staring right in their direction.

"Hey… Coran, what lives at the bottom of these tunnels?" Hunk asked the Altean, and Coran looked over in the direction Hunk's gaze was frozen on. They both watched as two aliens stepped from the shadows and slowly approached them. Hunk readied his cannon bayard in case it was needed. "D-Don't come any closer," he warned. "I'm still not great at using this thing."

They stepped into the light, and Hunk lowered his bayard when he realized that they weren't Galra.

"Wait, you two aren't Galra," he said.

"Nor are you!" One of them exclaimed.

There was a sound from overhead, and all four of them looked up in time to spot a Galra jet slowly descending down into the mine.

"A patrol!" the other Balmeran said. "Shay, come! We must take leave from these ones."

"Wait! Please, wait," Coran said. "We need your help. If the Galra finds us they'll kill us."

Hunk looked up nervously. "Or take us as prisoners and torture us."

Rax kept heading towards the shadows. "Not our problem," he said. "The Galra see us near you and they will kill both you and us." He looked back at the other Balmeran. "Shay, we leave!"

She looked back at him before shaking her head. "No! These many years, only Galra have been seen here," she said. "I will not turn my back on the skylings!"

Rax glared at the ground under their feet for a moment before growling under his breath. "... Vex!" He headed towards the damaged pod and grabbed one side, looking to Shay next. "Grab that side," he said. "In here. Hurry before they see us!"

They manage to maneuver and push the pod out of sight, hiding it along the shadows at the bottom of the hole. Hunk and Coran followed close behind them, ducking out of the way as the patrol passed by without stumbling upon them down there.

Once the imminent threat was gone, Hunk let out a small sigh and turned to the two Balmerans. "Thanks so much for saving us," he said. "I'm Hunk."

Shay smiled back at him. "Shay," she said, introducing herself before looking at her brother at her side. "This one is Rax, my brother." She looked back at Hunk. "How did you fall to us?"

"We're looking for something," Hunk said. "Maybe you guys are just the right people to help us find it."

* * *

They'd been led deep into the caves of the Balmera, settling down around a warm fire with Shay, Rax, and the rest of their family. They're both given bowls of soup, which they gratefully accept.

"Thanks a bunch for this delicious soup," Hunk said, looking into the bowl he'd just been handed. "Are these potatoes in here?" he asked. "Or like a Balmera equivalent of potatoes?"

Shay smiled. "Grandma's special dish for our special visitors," she said as Hunk and Coran sipped some of the soup. "Cave-root for the skin, cave bugs for the soul." They both retched out of reflex as Shay said that. Hunk's face flashed with regret, but Coran attempted to remain polite.

"Hehe.. mmhmm thank you for the bugs," Coran said, glancing away from his bowl, only for his expression to falter as Shay's grandmother poured more soup into his bowl. "Okay, now I think that might be _too_ many," he said as she beamed at him.

Hunk shook his head and forced the fact he'd just eaten bugs to the back of his head. "So… how many of you live down here?" he asked. Shay's father looked up from his bowl.

"There are thousands here on Balmera," he said. "We all work and live in these mines."

Shay looked at him. "We harvest the crystals that form for Zarkon."

Hunk frowned at the mention of the Galra Emperor. "Zarkon…" He said, "that's so… sad. He's enslaved an entire planet. It's not right…"

"Zarkon may rule, but we still have our family," Shay's father said. "That is where our true happiness comes from."

Rax growled and stood up. "The Galra will tear our family apart if they find these ones with us!" he exclaimed. "Everyone comes to Balmera and takes, but they never give anything back in return."

Shay looked down as he said that, a forlorn look invading her yellow eyes. "In the past, those who took the crystals made by Balmera, they would replenish her with energy in return. It was an equal exchange, but the Galra… They only take," she said. She placed her hand on the ground, and the cries of the Balmera were heard all through the little gathering spot. "It's no wonder we can feel her suffering…" Shay whispered sadly.

Hunk frowned and looked over at each one there. "I'm so sorry that we put all of you in this situation, but the faster we can get a crystal, the faster we can leave and put you out of danger."

Coran nodded. "We're in need of a battleship-class crystal."

"Battleship-class?" Shay's father asked, and Coran nodded again. "Those are rare and hard to find. Once discovered, the Galra soldiers guard them ceaselessly until they are ready for harvest," he said. "Your quest is in vain."

"There is one," Shay said. "It was discovered only weeks ago. It is nearly excavated."

"Quiet!" Rax exclaimed. "Even if these ones could steal from the Galra, battle patrols only wait to take down their ship. They have no chance of getting off Balmera alive, with or without crystal."

Hunk frowned. "Okay, so this crystal is basically the hardest thing in the universe to get," he said, and Coran glanced at him, placing his finger on his chin in thought.

"I wouldn't say it's the hardest," he said thoughtfully. "That'd probably be scaultrite mineral that's found only in the stomachs of giant Weblums." He nudged Hunk in the ribs. "I'll tell you- collecting that stuff's certainly no picnic!" At Hunk's unamused expression, Coran's face faltered. "B-But yes, this seems like quite the challenge."

"You may stay here until Balmera gives another crystal," Shay suggested. "One that is hidden from the eyes of Galra."

"We don't have that kind of time," Hunk said. "I've got two badly injured friends in need of healing, and we need the crystal for that."

"Hunk, for now, you set to repairing the pod," Coran said as he stood up. Hunk looked up at him as he stepped away. "While you're on that, I'm going to do some reconnaissance. See if I can think up another plan."

As he left, leaving Hunk with the Balmerans, his head flooded with all different ideas that he wasn't sure would work or not. After several long minutes of walking, his foot passed over a tiny, glittering crystal that seemed to have been uprooted but forgotten due to its minuscule size. He froze at noticing it before slowly bending and picking it up.

It was no bigger than the size of his thumbnail and it was close to a perfect circle. Seeing something so small brought a specific memory to the front of his mind, one he thought he'd forgotten years ago.

" _I've never seen a crystal this small!" Azilu gasped at the sight of the itty-bitty turquoise crystal. Alfor laughed at the glimmer in her iridescent eyes as she fawned over the crystal he'd just given her._

_Even though it was small, it still harbored a hefty amount of power. It was just the right size to be slotted into a piece of metal for jewelry._

_Coran twirled his mustache with his fingers, humming thoughtfully as the two continued to talk about the small crystal now held firm between Azilu's fingers. "It's certainly a rarity. Crystals come in all sizes, but I've never seen one that little, myself."_

_Azilu looked from Alfor to Coran, and an excited grin spread across her face as an idea seemed to pop into her mind. "Oh! I've got just the use for this little thing!" she exclaimed. The next thing either of them knew, she had bolted off, leaving both of them behind, wide-eyed and surprised._

_Alfor chuckled as she ran off, and Coran watched his King silently with a knowing look._

He smiled and closed his hand around the tiny crystal. It was so bittersweet, but nice all the same. Coran knelt and gently patted the Balmera, the surface underneath his hand taking on a faint glow as he gave some of his own life force to the Balmera. "... Oh, thank you so much for that memory," he whispered softly.

* * *

Hunk resorted to doing as Coran had instructed, and he set to work in fixing up their crashed pod. Shay followed him out to it, joining him and perching herself on a rock to observe as he worked on it. After a few moments of silence, Shay sat up and rested her head in her hand.

"Tell me," she said. "What is the sky like?"

Hunk paused what he was doing and turned to look at Shay. "The sky?" he asked, and she nodded. "Seriously? You've never seen the sky before?"

Shay shook her head. "No, but at night," she said as she climbed up on top of the pod, "I sneak up as high as I dare to go and try to imagine what it might look like from up there." She glanced down at the pod, gently patting her hand on the metal. "Oh… lucky you are to fly in this machine, and to go to worlds far from here," she whispered.

Hunk looked up at her. "Well… it doesn't have to be like this," he said, and Shay glanced down at him, tilting her head to the side curiously. "You can be free, too," he added.

"Free?" Shay repeated the word, testing it for herself to see how it felt saying it. Hunk nodded.

"Yeah, free," he said. "It means you can go wherever you want, be whoever you want, and do anything you want." Shay steadily climbed back off the pod as he spoke, curious about his words. "No Galra masters telling you what to do or anything like that," Hunk said. "Just you, able to do what your heart wants."

"That… makes no sense," Shay said, brows furrowed as she tried to piece that sort of reality together in her mind. "Zarkon controls everything. There is no place out of his rule."

Hunk smiled. "Nope, it won't be like that forever," he promised. "Things are starting to change. Have you heard of Voltron?"

"That is but a child's tale," Shay said, and Hunk shook his head.

"No, Voltron's real," he said. "I'm one of the Paladins, and Voltron is going to defeat Zarkon and free everyone."

Shay's eyes widened in surprise. "You are?" she asked, but before their conversation could continue, a new figure appearing silenced them both.

"Stop filling this one's head with your shadow show!" Rax said as he came out of the shadows of the cave. "This cavern is our home. It will never change." He turned, but not before motioning to Shay. "Come. We take our leave now."

Shay was reluctant to leave, sparing Hunk an apologetic before slowly getting up and following behind her brother. Hunk frowned as she left behind him, and he went back to work on the pod.

* * *

After Coran came back, and Hunk had finished the last of the needed repairs on the pod, they had gone to join Shay and Rax back in their home.

"Well?" Rax asked, "is your ship repaired so that you may finally depart from us?"

Hunk looked at him. "Uh… Are you saying you want us to leave?"

"Correct," Rax said, and Hunk sighed.

"Well, the ship is working again, but we still can't leave without the crystal," Hunk said and he turned to face Coran. "Did you think of a way to get it?" he asked.

"Actually, yes," Coran said as he looked at Hunk. He grinned, and Hunk was suddenly hesitant about the man's plan.

… … …

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm the legs again," Hunk grunted from where he was, hidden wrapped up by a blanket and not sure where to step. "I'm the one who took down the guard. It should be my turn to be the head."

Coran's plan had been strange at best. He was perched up on Hunk's shoulders, wearing a Galra sentry helmet to disguise them. To hide the rest of them, they'd wrapped themselves in a large blanket. Hunk was unable to see, which made keeping upright rather hard.

Coran shushed him. "Shh, legs don't talk!"

Hunk glared but kept walking forward, trying his best not to trip over things. They get closer to the two sentries guarding the crystal before coming to a wavy halt.

"Hello gentlemen!" Coran exclaimed. "Shift's over. The boss needs you back at the guard shack," he said.

"Verify identification code," one sentry responded, and Coran nods.

"Right…" he said. "Now, I really didn't want to have to do this, but looks like I need to pull rank on you two." He moved one of the hidden arms under the blanket, and it flopped limply around as he tried to point it at the two. "You guys are in big trouble. Hand over those blasters and ID badges."

The sentries took aim at the pair hidden. "Verify identification code, or be destroyed."

"Okay, okay," Coran said. "I've got it right… _here!_ " he yelled as he threw the blanket and disguise off. Hunk aimed his cannon at them and fired at the sentries. They hit the ground, and Coran and Hunk dashed over to the crystal.

Hunk saw Coran place both hands on the crystal's surface, and he tilted his head to the side. "What are you doing? We're in a hurry!"

Coran glanced over his shoulder. "I'm not going to just pry this out like some Galra monster!" he said. "The Balmera is a sacred being. You have to communicate with it and let your life forces connect," he said. The crystal began to glow under Coran's hands. "This is how we did it in our time."

Hunk's eyes widened at his words. "Woah, you really know your Balmeras."

The Balmera responded to Coran and let the surface surrounding the large crystal fall away, exposing it completely. The crystal began to tip over onto its side, and Coran rushed to catch it. However, he hurt his spine in the process, a loud crack echoing around the two. It was silent for a moment, and Coran slowly looked towards Hunk.

"... I think I'm broken," he whispered, and Hunk sighed. Before he could go help Coran move the crystal, the sound of blasters being armed came from behind the pair. He turned, only to see that they had been surrounded by the Galra sentries.

Coran slowly turned around, grimacing in pain with each movement. "... okay, guys! All right, I hate to do this," he said as he tried to stand up fully, to no avail. "Badges and blasters, come on. Hand 'em over!" He fell the next second, landing with a pained, "oof!"

Hunk looked up from Coran laying on the ground before he sighed again, raising his arms to surrender.

* * *

They were locked in a cell that was on the Balmera, unable to get out even if they tried. The cell could only be opened from the outside and with Galra technology.

Coran paced back and forth, shaking his head. "Quiznak!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe they saw through our disguise…" There was the faint sound of footsteps heading towards them and Coran came to a halt. Both him and Hunk turned towards the passageway leading to their cell, only to spot a familiar figure sneaking over to them.

"Shay?" Hunk asked as Shay got closer. In her hand was a severed sentry arm. She held the arm up to the scanner on the cell and used it to unlock it. The barrier fell away, leaving the two trapped inside able to escape.

"Make haste to your pod!" Shay said, "do not worry. The crystal is already prepared for your departure."

"How did you manage to get the crystal moved?" Coran asked as the two went to join Shay, and she looked at him.

"I was assigned to take it to the upper levels, but I took it down to your pod instead," she said. "Before long they will discover my ruse, so you must hurry. You have little time," Shay said. She turned to guide them out, only to halt when Hunk took her by the wrist.

"Why are you helping us?" he asked, looking up at her. "You'll get in trouble if you're caught," he said, worry flashing through his eyes. She looked back at him.

"Because your words touched my heart," she said. "I wish all Balmera were able to be free… Perhaps your Voltron can make it possible," she added softly.

The worry in Hunk's eyes shifted into determination, and he nodded to himself. "It will," he said.

The three rushed towards the readied pod, only to come to a halt upon seeing the group of sentries already in wait for them to arrive. In front of them stood Rax, and Shay looked at him in disbelief. The sentries took aim at them as they stood motionless.

"No," Shay said. "Rax, why?" she asked.

"These two have brought only trouble to our family!" Rax said. "This is the only way to protect you."

Hunk lifted his bayard, about to form it into his cannon when Shay stopped him by holding an arm out. "No!" she said. She knelt and placed her hand on the ground, communicating with the Balmera. "The Balmera will save us."

"Shay, no!" Rax yelled, but it was too late to stop her. The Balmera responded to Shay. Its voice was heard as rocks broke loose from the roof of the cave, falling to crush the sentries. They used it to their advantage, and the three of them rushed to the pod.

As they fled towards the pod, a few sentries that managed to survive the downpour of rocks steadily climbed back onto their feet. They aimed at the three running, their shots hitting Shay the moment she fell behind.

Glowing purple rope coiled around her body, binding her arms to her torso and trapping her legs together as she fell to the ground. Hunk heard her cry as she fell, and he stopped right before he could get into the pod.

"Shay!" Hunk cried, pivoting on his heel as he saw the sentries surround her. "Let her go!"

"Go!" Shay cried back at him. "Before they capture you!"

Hunk was about to run towards her when Coran's voice reached his ears.

"No, Hunk!" Coran yelled at him. "This is our only chance. We have to leave now!" Hunk looked from Shay to Coran, looking back at her a second later. He clenched his fists as more sentries arrived, a fighter jet following not long after. He squeezed his eyes closed and reluctantly got aboard the pod with Coran.

"I'll come back for you Shay!" Hunk yelled as he got in, "I promise!"

The pod closed as Hunk finally got in. Not even a second later, the fighter jet shot at them, the blasts hitting the pod's front. Coran steered the pod up and tried to maneuver around the jet.

"If we can't shake these patrols, we're gonna end up back here a lot sooner than we want," Coran said.

They flew out of the hole as quickly and as carefully as they could to avoid hitting any structures and to dodge the armada of fighter jets tailing them. They're unable to get far enough away from them, the jets on close pursuit as they keep firing at them.

"We're not going to make it if we can't find a way to shake them!" Coran exclaimed as he worked on piloting them away from the jets, but no matter what he didn't nothing seemed to work. Hunk glanced around nervously before he recalled a moment from before they left.

"Wait, Pidge installed that fuel booster, right?" he asked, and Coran nodded. Hunk nodded at the button, and Coran glanced at him hesitantly.

"It… might turn us into one giant fireball," he cautioned.

"Yeah, maybe," Hunk said, turning away from the button before he could press it. "It's our only chance, though. We have to risk it."

Coran hesitated, but he relented when he looked forward again. Several more jets were in hot pursuit of them from that end, too. "Fine!" he said, "fire in the hole!"

Hunk pressed the button and the pod picked up speed. They shot out of the hole, a huge explosion filling the cavern a few seconds after they flew out. The jets flying towards them on both ends collided with each other, only adding to the explosion as Coran and Hunk escaped.

"Woohoo!" Coran cheered as they took off away from the Balmera.

"We did it!" Hunk cheered.

* * *

After a full day had nearly gone by, the rest of the team gathered by the pod Lance was in, waiting for the time he was able to wake-up and get out of it. While he was nearly back to as good as new, Kagome in the pod right next to him was still recovering. Coran remained at the console while the others circled around the pod, peering inside to get a good look at Lance.

"I… I can't tell if he looks any better or not," Hunk said, squinting as he tried to clearly see Lance through the glass. "He just looks like… him."

"Kinda looks like he's breathing weird," Pidge said the following second. "Am I the only one who sees it?" she asked.

Keith glared at the pod. "Come on!" he snapped, reaching for the pod. He tried to tap on the glass, only for Allura to pull his hand away from it.

"Stop," she said. "Not yet. A few more ticks and he'll be fine."

Keith folded his arms over his chest, glaring at Allura. "How much better do you think he'll be after a few more ticks?"

"What even is a tick?" Pidge asked, turning to face Allura, ignoring Lance in the pod behind her.

"It's… a time-slice," Allura said, and Shiro turned to join the other's conversation.

"Wait, so like a second?" he asked, and Allura frowned.

"What's a second?" she asked.

Pidge stepped over to Allura and pulled a clock out. She set it to show the passing seconds, and she held it out so Allura could see the screen. "Like this," Pidge said.

Allura frowned as she thought about it. "I'm not sure…" she said, "I think ticks are a little longer." She turned towards Coran. "Coran, do you have a ticker on you?"

At hearing her call him, Coran turned towards Allura. A second later, he nodded. "Of course, Princess," he said as he approached them. He pulled it out and had it start counting ticks as the others watched to compare.

"I think ticks are a little slower than seconds," Hunk said, looking between the two counters in comparison.

"I can't tell," Pidge said. "We need to have them start at the same time for an accurate comparison."

Coran nodded and they both stopped their counters. They reset them and held them back out across from one another. "Okay," Coran said "Ready? Go!" On his cue, both he and Pidge pressed the start buttons on their counters. They both began to count the units while the group huddled together to observe.

"Hey, I think we're winning!" Hunk said, and Keith looked at him.

"Winning what?" he asked. "The intergalactic time-measuring contest?"

Hunk turned to him and shrugged. "Well, obviously."

In the midst of their observing the separate counters, one of the pods behind their turned backs opened. Lance stumbled out of it, nearly hitting the floor as he walked on unstable legs. He eventually made it to where the others were, and he blinked a few times as he peered over Hunk's shoulder, curious as to what they were doing.

"You guys having a… clock party?" he asked.

"Aw Lance, you ruined it- wait! Lance!" Hunk whirled around and pulled Lance into a tight hug, nearly lifting him off the ground in the process. The others turned towards Lance as Hunk set him back down.

He looked over all of them, rubbing his head slowly. "Wait, what happened?" Lance noticed the lacking figure and he frowned. "I… remember the explosion, but… Wait, where's Kagome?" he asked. Before he could start to think the worst, Shiro stepped in.

"She'll be fine," he said, and Lance looked at him for further explanation. Shiro nodded at the other pod, and Lance turned towards it. "She's going to need to remain in there for a little while longer, but she's fine."

Lance let go of the breath he'd been holding, and he nodded. "... Right," he said, and he repeated Shiro's words in his mind. _She's fine._

"Come on," Allura said, pulling him from his thoughts. "We can tell you more about it while you get something to eat."

"Wait," Lance held a hand up. "Talking? Eating?" He grinned her way. "Are you asking me out on a date?" The rest around him looked unimpressed as they walked ahead of him.

"Yup, that's the normal Lance," Pidge said as she went ahead.

"He's fine," Shiro said, and the others nodded in agreement.

The others filed away, but Lance came to a halt as he walked past the pod that was still healing Kagome up. He looked up at her peaceful expression, glancing down at his feet the next second.

The entire time after the explosion he had flickered in and out of consciousness, even if he wasn't able to say or do anything due to the pain he was in. He could feel the ghostly imprint of her hands supporting his weight, and a faint memory of being encased in a warm, soothing light appeared in the front of his mind. She'd been in bad shape too, but she'd still… Lance looked back up at her face.

"Thanks, Kagome," he whispered. "I don't really know _what_ you did, but whatever that warmth was, it really saved me." He had the sinking suspicion that she could have done what she did to him to herself, but she'd chosen to help him instead, even at her own expense. That feeling dug into his heart deeper when he figured it might've been the reason he was better after only a day in one of those pods.

He couldn't thank her to her face right now, but when she woke up, he'd be sure to do just that.

Kirara glanced up at him, blinking wide, red eyes as she tilted her head to the side. Lance noticed she was there, and he smiled. He held his arms open to let her jump into them, and she did so after a split second. She nuzzled him and purred as she laid against his chest.

"Lance? You coming?" Shiro paused when he realized Lance had fallen behind. He noticed Lance's attention on Kagome still in her pod, but before he could ask, Lance nodded and went to join the rest.

"Yeah," he said as he passed him. "Let's go."

* * *

"So what'd you guys end up doing with Sendak?" Lance asked as they finished explaining what had happened.

"He's frozen in a cryo-pod," Allura said. "For now, we're going to keep him like that in the castle."

Lance looked up from his food goo, turning to Allura. "You sure that's a good idea?"

Allura hesitated for a moment, seeming to think about it before she eventually nodded her head. "He's too dangerous to be set free. For now, it's safest to keep him frozen in the pod," she said. "Eventually we might be able to get some information about Zarkon out of him."

"Right," Lance said. He didn't think it was a good idea, but he decided to trust Allura. "So, what's our next move?"

Hunk stood up. "We have to head back to the Balmera," he said. "We need to save Shay and her people from the Galra."

"Woah, you're really into this lady, huh?" Lance asked, and Hunk's expression faltered a bit as his cheeks flushed.

"N-No, it's not like that," he said. "You guys, once you see what Zarkon has done and how these people are treated-" he paused and looked over the group with him. "They- They've been under his thumb for so long that they don't even know what freedom is. They've been enslaved for years upon years, and it's not right. It's up to us to right it as Paladins of Voltron. It's time to man up."

Pidge crossed her arms over her chest and glanced down at them silently as Hunk said the last little bit of his mini-speech.

"Hunk's right," Shiro said. "There's a whole bunch of people in need of help, and it's up to us to help them. Time to defend the universe."

The rest got up, prepared to follow Shiro out, only for Pidge to remain in her spot. She looked up and took a breath. "Wait, I have something I need to say first," she said. Her words caused them all to come to a stop, turning back to look at her. She looked over each of them nervously. "I need to be honest, and I'm scared this might change the way you guys think of me, but I've hidden this secret for a long time, but there shouldn't be secrets between us." Pidge looked back at them, trying to meet the stares of them all. "I can't _man up_ ," she said. "I- I'm a girl." The rest were quiet, but Pidge didn't notice the calm expressions on their faces, sans Lance, who was staring with his mouth hanging open in utter surprise. "I-I mean, I _can_ man up because it's just a phrase and I don't have to actually be a man to do it. I-it just means I need to toughen up, but what I'm saying is-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lance cut her off before she could ramble any more. "You're a _girl_?!

Allura smiled at Pidge with warmth in her eyes. "I've known for quite some time," she admitted. "It's wonderful that you've finally shared it with us."

"Oh yeah," Hunk nodded. "Back when I went through your diary I kinda had a hunch, but I never said anything in case you were hiding it for a reason."

"Yeah," Keith nodded as well. "I dunno, something about you always seemed pretty… feminine," he said. Despite her lacking in acting like Allura or Kagome, the air around Pidge definitely felt closer to them over any of the rest.

Coran looked at Pidge. "Everyone else referred to you as a boy, so, naturally, I just went along with it," he admitted.

Shiro approached her and set a hand on her shoulder. "Pidge, owning who you are will only make you a better person and a better Paladin." A small smile lifted Pidge's lips as she sighed.

"I feel so much better now that I got that off my chest," she said. "Now let's launch this Castleship!" she exclaimed.

Lance shook his head as he slowly stood up. The rest of the team went ahead, and he ran after them. "Wait _what?!_ Pidge is a girl and the castle is actually a ship? Just how long have I been out?"

* * *

_**Where am I?** _

Blue eyes fluttered open slowly as little white lights flickered into existence around her. Her motions felt sluggish as she moved, and she realized right away the lack of auras surrounding her. She froze and looked down at her feet. It was like water was rippling around her feet. Even as she came to a halt, small rings continued to ripple out from her feet. She frowned and turned on her heel, only to see no change.

Kagome looked back up, a dark abyss surrounding her whole with nothing but those sparkling white dots to give her light. "Where… am I?" she whispered, almost afraid to raise her voice any further in case it drew something out of the dark to her. "And… how do I leave?" she asked then. As she turned on her heel, something began to glow brighter in the distance. After a few seconds of hesitation, she swallowed her worries and ran towards it. The ground rippled under her as she raced towards the growing light, but she came to a halt right in front of it when she saw what it was with clarity. Her hand reached out, shaking fingers gently gracing the cloud of light.

_She grimaced in pain when an extra source of pressure was applied to the gash along her left side. It wasn't deep enough to be life-threatening, but it'd surely leave a scar once it was healed completely. The cloth was pulled back, and a new wave of crimson began to leak out. Sango furrowed her brow and glared over her shoulder to the demon standing along the wall of the hut. He was, after all, the cause of the injury._

" _Kagome…" Sango trailed off, trying to keep her voice quiet, only to remember a second later that it wouldn't matter. He'd hear her, anyway. "Look, I know you want to learn how to fight, but do you really think it's a good idea to have Sesshoumaru train you?" she asked, and she felt the glare the stoic demon sent to her turned back. "I could go back to teaching you swordsmanship, too," she offered._

" _You've exhausted all the knowledge you possess," Sesshoumaru's cold drawl made Sango silence herself. A glare appeared on her face as she exhaled. "It's pointless for you to keep teaching her if she won't learn anything new. It's best you stick to teaching her hand-to-hand combat."_

" _Stop you two," Kagome said, silencing both sides. She looked at Sango and offered her a smile. "It's fine, really. I promise," she said. "I know it might seem bad, but Sesshoumaru is aware that I'm human. He knows not to go too far," she assured the slayer. A moment later, she turned to the stoic demon along the wall. "Sango's just… cautious," she told him. "Maybe you two can bond over this?" she suggested, and both of them looked at her as if she'd just grown another head. She looked between the two and sighed under her breath. "... or nevermind," she muttered._

Kagome looked at the memory with wide eyes. This was definitely her memory, there was no denying that. She turned on her heel, only to catch sight of another cloud of light. She froze, remaining motionless as it replayed another memory.

" _Inuyasha ran off to find Kikyo again?" Sango asked as she sank down on the floor beside the despondent priestess._

_Kagome pulled her legs up to her chest, folding her arms on top of her knees. She nodded and rested her chin on her folded arms. A second later, she glanced at Sango. "... Miroku back to flirting with the village women?"_

_Sango's brows furrowed in mild annoyance as she nodded. "You guessed it," she said. A second later she sighed. "You know what? I don't care anymore," she admitted. "He does it all the time, and I just… he's not worth it. I just feel bad for the women he goes after at this point."_

_Kagome nodded in agreement. She could sympathize with Sango's feelings. "I don't care that Inuyasha goes to see Kikyo anymore," she admitted, and Sango turned to her, surprised. "I… It just hurts that he still hides it like I won't figure it out the moment he leaves. I've told him that I don't care that he goes, that I expect it at this point, but I just want him to be honest." She felt tears well up in her eyes and she furiously wiped them away. "I just wish he wouldn't hide it… That's what hurts so much."_

_Sango draped an arm over Kagome's shoulders, and she pulled her into her side in a warm, supportive hug. When she fell to rest against her, Kagome felt her face flush a light pink, but she didn't say anything. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against Sango._

_It was silent between them for a long time, the only source of noise being the crackling embers of the fire warming the room, Kirara's tails thumping the floor in a steady rhythm, and Shippo's faint snores as he slept against Kirara. Kagome could feel her heart hammering away in her chest, and she silently hoped Sango couldn't hear it. After remaining like that for a long while, Kagome eventually moved so she wasn't leaning all her weight on Sango. They looked at each other as Kagome sat up, and they froze when their noses touched from how close beside one another they were._

_Instead of pulling back, both of them slowly inched closer. Their lips were a hair's breadth apart when the sound of the door slamming open made them jump away from each other._

_It was silent as both of them looked at the door, only to spot Inuyasha enter. He wasn't looking at them, but after no one said anything, he looked up from the floor. He saw both Sango and Kagome with scarlet faces, but before he could ask what was wrong, Kagome bolted up from the floor._

" _Goodnight!" Kagome exclaimed as she made her way to her sleeping bag beside Shippo and Kirara. Inuyasha looked from Kagome to Sango, but all he received from the slayer was an annoyed glare._

_He didn't say anything, his ears drooping when he could only figure the reason for the tense silence was because they'd realized he'd gone to see Kikyo. "I-" he tried to speak, only to get cut off._

" _Shut it, Inuyasha," Sango grumbled._

As the memory vanished in a flicker of light, Kagome slowly lifted a hand and placed it over her heart. Her vision blurred some, even as she smiled at the warmth the memory left her with. "Sango-chan…"

Kagome turned in search of the next memory she'd see. She didn't know where she was, but it felt… nice, she decided. At least, right here did.

Four more clouds of sparkling light appeared as she turned, showing her more peeks into the time she'd spent hunting for the jewel. These memories were of the first time she met the friends of her group, and she bit down on the laugh she felt trying to pry free from her when she watched her younger self pet Inuyasha's ears while he was pinned to the tree.

Those faded just like the others, and Kagome turned to find more. It seemed like it was the only thing to do, after all. She saw more glows from a little further away from her, and she jogged over to reach them. Once she reached them, the one closest to her bloomed to life right before her eyes, but she found her voice dying when she realized this wasn't one of her memories.

" _Azilu!"_

_The woman from her dream nights ago was rendered to her knees, armor broken apart from blunt force, and an open wound running from her shoulder to hip, dragging diagonally down her body. Blood lined her lips, as she eventually fell to the ground, blood pooling around her as five others ran to where she'd fallen._

" _Haha…" Azilu's laugh was weak as she finally succumbed to the pain eating at her. Two of the five fell to their knees on either side of her. "I.. guess I-I might be a-a little reckless, after all," she whimpered. Alfor and Zarkon were on either side of her. The battle they'd been in was now over._

_Zarkon gently turned her head so she was looking up at him. "Azilu… hold on," he demanded. "... Azilu!" His shout was weighed down with a mix of emotions as her eyes slowly fluttered closed as the calling of sleep swallowed her._

The one in red armor, she felt like she knew him, but she was afraid to try and think of the name. She was afraid of the answer she'd get. They all looked so familiar, but the only ones she could place by name were the woman, Azilu, and Allura's father, Alfor, and that was all because of the dream she had.

A sharp breath left her lungs as her eyes began to sting. Hot tears pooled over her lashes and began to drip down both of her cheeks, cascading down her flesh and dropping to the ground below her once they reached her jaw.

"I…" She didn't want to see this. She didn't want to see _any_ of this. She froze when she heard the faint thump of footsteps heading towards her. She tensed up and whirled around to face the newcomer, only to freeze yet again.

Kagome looked up at the white-haired figure. Her eyes widened when she was able to recognize him. The figure didn't look as young as he had in her dream, but there was no way she could mistake it. No, this had to be him. He looked as surprised as she felt, but the surprise soon melted from his face, being replaced with a fond smile. She closed her eyes, trying to urge herself to wake up.

"I haven't seen this visage of you in so long, Azilu," he whispered, and Kagome felt her eyes snap open.

"My name's not Azilu!" she insisted indignantly at him, and his eyes widened. Memories of her first meeting with Inuyasha burned in her mind, and she felt ill and irritated for a moment at the memories of her friend, despite her prior happiness at being able to relive them. "I-" she paused and froze when he laughed under his breath.

"I now know you're not Azilu," he said softly. He approached her, a hand falling to rest on her cheek. His fingers brushed along the skin below her eye. "Still," he whispered, "seeing this face after so long is bittersweet. So I hope you can pardon me for my indiscretion." She looked up at him, and for a moment she thought she could see the presence of tears in his eyes. "When we lost her, things fell apart so fast," he said then, glancing down. "When _he_ lost her, nothing could ever return to how it was."

"He?" Kagome asked, tilted her head to the side enough to shake off his palm. The next second, she shook her head with a silent huff. "Nope, nevermind. Forget I asked. I don't want to know," she whispered, and Alfor looked at her, startled. "I don't need to get strung up in the messy ties of my past lives again. Always ends like a dumpster fire, anyway," she muttered.

"You're quite the aware one," Alfor mused with a smile. "So different, yet deep down, you and Azilu are quite similar." For them to both end up as the Paladins of the white lion, well… that only solidified that notion, even more.

Kagome frowned when he said that, and she forced herself to shake her head to pull herself from her thoughts. She looked back up at him. A part of her wanted to ask where she was, but now that she wasn't alone, that feeling steadily faded. Alfor raised his hand, and a new cloud of white light appeared. Kagome watched wide-eyed as it bloomed to life around them.

* * *

She wasn't sure how long she'd been there so far. For the most part, she and Alfor traversed the open space around them as they spoke and observed the memories exposed to them. Kagome noticed they all were all her memories. She felt weird at first, letting him see what she'd hidden from her own team, but as they continued, that feeling faded.

She was happy with his company. She had someone to share this part of her with, and he was always eager to listen to what she had to say on any particular memory that replayed for them.

" _The hell you mean that bastard's gonna be traveling with us?!" Inuyasha's angry complaint was loud enough that it startled the birds roosting the trees beside them. Sesshoumaru peered over Kagome's shoulder, a faint glimmer of irritation reflecting in gold eyes at the younger brother's shout. "No way in hell!"_

_Kagome set her hands on her hips as she glared at him. Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull at the look in her eyes, and he quieted down at the risk she might utter_ _**the word** _ _. "I don't care that you're not happy about it," she said. "Sesshoumaru's teaching me, so it's easier if he travels with us. Besides," she said, casting a look at the quiet demon. "You're the only one who has an issue with it."_

_The rest with her nodded in agreement. It was more help against Naraku, after all._

_Inuyasha glared at them all before turning on his heel. "Tch!"_

Kagome rolled her eyes and looked up at Alfor. "Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru never got along, despite being half-brothers," she said. "So he wasn't happy when Sesshoumaru and his group joined up with us, but he was the only one against it."

Alfor nodded. "He seems quite frustrating," he said, and Kagome stifled a laugh.

"Yup," she said without missing a beat. Friend or not, she'd never deny just how difficult it was to deal with him over and over again.

Alfor turned to her after she fell silent, a curious look in his eyes. "You hide these memories from the rest of your team," he said, and Kagome slowly nodded. "Why?" he asked. "I'm sure, while it might surprise them, they would understand."

Kagome shook her head at the idea. She knew she was hiding a lot from them, but… Kagome squeezed her eyes shut as she felt tears welling up.

Maybe they would understand. After all, they were now out in space fighting against an alien empire, but she wasn't afraid of them not understanding anymore. She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing tight. The pain she felt bubbling up inside her faded when she felt a hand fall to rest on the top of her head. She blinked, a few tears falling from her lashes as she looked up. She saw Alfor looking down at her with supportive eyes.

"I can't," she whispered. "Not yet."

"You're afraid, and it's okay to be," he said. "This weight you feel will start to fade once you're honest with your team," Alfor told her. "Fear is only natural when you have to face the unpleasant parts of your mind, but if you never say anything, if you keep it hidden, then that fear will only win."

"It's not pretty," she whispered, lifting a hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Not all memories are," he said. "This is how we grow as living beings." Alfor tilted her head back so she was looking at him. "These memories you've watched with me, the memories that made you smile, and made you remember the good of those moments- those are the proof that not all of your past is a burden." Kagome looked to him with wide eyes, and Alfor smiled. "Those will be what remains once you face the unpleasant ones. They will be the light that guides you while you face the dark," he said.

"I…" Kagome was at a loss on what to say. His words seemed to be exactly what she wanted to hear. Exactly what she _needed_ to hear.

"If you open up to the rest of your team, then they will be able to support you as you need." He patted her head gently. "No one is strong all the time. Not even you, Kagome."


	9. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Eight

* * *

The longer she remained in that odd place, the more familiarized she was able to get with her memories, even the ones she thought she'd forgotten entirely. Constantly with her was Alfor, at her side and watching alongside her. Despite the fleeting joy she felt at recounting her memories as if they were a movie for her, the longer she remained, she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.

The cloud of white before her evaporated as she turned away from it, a frown marring her delicate features. Alfor was surprised when she so suddenly turned away, and he followed her by turning as well. "What is it?" he asked, confusion in his voice. Kagome glanced down and shook her head.

"I have to go," she said decisively. "I can't just stay here. I have to get back to my team."

"You can't go yet," he said, and Kagome felt her frown deepen. "You've not yet healed fully. Until your body has had the chance to fully heal as your energy has, you must remain as you are. If you push yourself then you might end up going too far." He saw the frustration on her face, and, once again, it was like a mirror to Azilu. He approached her and rested his hands on her shoulders. He squeezed them gently and encouraged her to look up. "You share her resistance in surrendering," he said then, and Kagome averted her gaze to her feet. "I fear that might not be a good thing."

"It feels like they need me," she whispered then, her voice almost too quiet he couldn't catch what she said. "Something feels… wrong," she said, this time letting her voice grow bolder. "If they need my help, then I'm gonna help them!"

There was a brief moment of silence on Alfor's end. He drew his hands from her shoulders and let them fall limply at his sides. "If it will help placate you, we can oversee how they're doing from here," he said, and instantly Kagome's eyes lit up.

"How?" she asked, and Alfor couldn't help the smile that flashed across his face. He extended a hand to her, and she took it after a moment's consideration. He pulled her to his side and let his other hand hover out in front of them. After a few seconds, a void seemed to open up where his hand was, and he let his hand lower once more. The void opened more, and when she peered into it, she realized she could see the others of her team as if she was hovering over them and looking. "... Wow!" she gasped.

Alfor chuckled at the childlike wonder she had in her eyes.

Together, they watched as the team headed to the Balmera and they watched as they took care of the Galra foes that faced them. It placated her and made her feel at ease. Even without her there to form Voltron, they were still fine. It made her feel at ease.

However, a sight of a large beast heading towards the Balmera made that feeling fade away as suddenly as it appeared. "No… No! Not another one of those things," she said, recalling very clearly the last one they had to go against. It didn't seem like the same kind, and that meant they'd have to come up with another way to take it down.

She watched in horror as it engaged them in battle, its dozens of lasers easily gaining an upper hand on the five in their lions. It continued to attack the Balmera, weakening its structure as it neared collapse.

Kagome turned back to Alfor desperately. "I have to go help them," she said. "I-I know I'm still weak, but there must be something I can do. I'll-" She was cut off by Alfor placing his hands on her shoulders.

Alfor sighed and resisted the urge to shake his head. "Your physical form will not awaken until it's recovered from its wounds."

"There has to be another way!" Kagome insisted. "I have to be able to do something, anything!" she pleaded. "They can't form Voltron without me, and the Balmera will be destroyed if that thing keeps it up."

He could feel the panic and worry rolling from her in waves, and he carefully took both of her hands in his own, holding them palm up.

"King Alfor…" Kagome's voice faded to a whisper, "please, _please_ tell me there's something I can do. If not… then so many innocent lives will be lost, and I refuse to let that happen."

"Kagome…" His voice was soft, and he squeezed her hands to comfort her. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head in denial. "No!" she snapped at him. "I have to be able to do something, anything!" A pink sparkle coming from her chest caught her eye, and she let out a startled gasp. Alfor let his grip on her hands fall, and he glanced at the sparkling jewel, as well. "Oh! The Shikon no Tama!"

For some reason, the jewel seemed to have woken up in this place. She suspected it was due to her own aura and desperation, and not anything done by Alfor or the place they were in, since it'd been calm and dormant up until then.

"That jewel…" Alfor trailed off with a look akin to astonishment in his eyes. He hadn't seen that jewel in so long, and now it was so radiantly bright.

Kagome looked up at him, bringing one of her hands up to curl around the pink stone. "If there's nothing we can do, then maybe the jewel can help me do something," she said, and Alfor looked befuddled. A second later, he nodded, knowing she wouldn't change her mind no matter what he might think to say.

Kagome clasped both hands around the jewel and took a deep breath.

" _Please hear me, Shikon no Tama…"_

Though she didn't speak those words aloud, they still echoed out around the pair standing together. Alfor glanced up at hearing her voice echoing out around them.

" _Lend me your strength so I can help my companions."_

It was silent for a moment, and Kagome opened her eyes fearing the jewel denied her request. However, to her surprise, a pink glow soon lit up around her. She felt less-solid than before, and she looked up at Alfor.

"Good luck," he said softly, and before she knew it, that place faded from her sight.

Soon enough, she felt her feet touch sturdy ground. Her attention focused above her as the Castleship landed on the ground, making it tremble some as it settled on the Balmera's surface. She saw Coran leave the Castleship and she held a hand out to him. " _Coran!"_

He ran to where Allura was with some of the Balmerans, never pausing as if he couldn't hear her. She frowned and glanced down, her gaze straying to the hand she'd held out. Her eyes widened when she saw that her body was transparent. After a moment, she shook her head.

" _They can't see me or hear me,"_ she whispered. She looked back up when the sound of screaming from the tunnels reached her ears. The Balmerans were getting trapped as the ground began to collapse. " _I have to do something..."_ she whispered desperately.

She could feel the Balmera calling out to her, and she slowly looked down at its surface. She gasped and dropped to her knees. It wasn't just calling out to her, but to her energy. Kagome set her hands on the rough surface, letting a pink glow spread from her hands and into the Balmera's surface. She could feel the Castleship's crystal energy pouring into the Balmera's surface, as well. It joined her own energy, and the ground under her began to glow.

She pushed her energy into it, but she knew she wasn't enough to give it all it needed. It'd been neglected for far too long. " _I'm so sorry,"_ she whispered. The glow from her energy spread out from under the Castleship, but she had to pull her hands away not long after when she felt exhaustion budding inside her.

The glow caught the attention of Shay, and she turned to face the Castleship. "The Balmera!" she gasped, and the rest turned to where she was facing. "The ground below your ship appears to be healing. The essence is thriving, but how?"

"The castle!" Allura exclaimed. "It must be restoring some energy into the Balmera." The ground below her began to glow, and she looked down.

"It's not only the castle," Shay's grandmother said. "You, as well."

Coran turned to Allura. "That's true," he said. "Your Altean energy is combining with the ship's crystal. It's rejuvenating this area of the Balmera."

Allura's eyes widened. "That's it! Maybe we can perform that ceremony you mentioned earlier, Coran. Maybe it's not too late to save the Balmera."

"What ceremony?" Rax asked, and Coran turned to face him.

"In the days of old, whenever Alteans were given the gift of crystals from a Balmera, we would then repay it by performing a ceremony and giving it some of our energy in return. A scared Altean would re-infuse the Balmera with Quintessence, as a symbiotic relationship."

Allura shook her head, a frown on her face. "The Galra have done nothing but take from the Balmera. It's time we give something back to it." She looked to the Castleship. "I can connect with the crystal in the Bridge and use the Castle's power to amplify the energy going into the Balmera." She led the way over to the Castleship, the rest following behind her.

Coran followed after her in worry, stepping around her when she stopped in the glow under the Castleship. "Princess… When your father performed the ceremony, it was always on a much smaller scale," he said, and Allura turned from the Castleship and to him. "To heal the entire planet… it might end up taking more energy that you possess. You might not live through the process," he said.

Her expression softened when she saw the worry in his eyes. She set a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried for me, Coran, but I must try," she said. "If I don't…" Allura trailed off and looked down. She didn't want to think of what would happen should she fail.

Kagome walked to join them as they stopped in the middle of the glow. Despite knowing she couldn't feel it, she set her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her worries some. " _Don't worry, Allura,"_ Kagome whispered, even though she knew she wouldn't hear her. " _I'll help."_ She'd make sure Allura pulled through, no matter what.

The Balmerans knelt to the ground, resting their palms on the planet's surface. Allura stood below the castle as she connected to the ship's crystal. A beam of light encased her, and the glow below them began to turn more vibrant.

Kagome glanced at the jewel around her neck and closed her eyes. She felt the power radiating off of it. It hadn't been this strong in a long time. " _Please,"_ she whispered, " _lend me your strength, Shikon no Tama."_ Kagome fell to her knees as a pink glow surrounded her, starting from the jewel. Allura fell shortly after, both of them resting their palms on the Balmera's surface.

A turquoise glow began to spread over the surface of the Balmera, a pink aura following right over the turquoise as the planet began to heal all over.

The rest of the Paladins froze momentarily, observing as the two colors ran over the planet's entire surface. Kagome stood up after a moment, and the glow below her began to fade into the Balmera. She looked towards the rest still in their lions, only to freeze when she heard the approaching steps of the Robeast, once again closing in on them.

She whirled to face it, a furious glare on her face as it readied to fire at them some more. They seemed to catch onto its presence again, and they began to dart around to try and get away.

" _Oh, no you don't!"_ Kagome cried out, even if no one could hear her. She concentrated as the Balmera absorbed the energy she, Allura, and the Balmerans gave it, standing back up from her kneeling position. Her eyes narrowed as a pink aura surrounded the tips of her fingers, the glow soon spreading and taking the shape of a large boomerang.

It was the same as Sango's Hiraikotsu, but this one glowed a pure pink. She readied it and slung it forward at the Robeast right as it began to pursue the others again. It struck it in its middle, a pink glow erupting from its body as it broke into two. Both halves of the Robeast fell as the Hiraikotsu evaporated. Her energy fell to the surface of the Balmera, and it absorbed the last little bit she'd offered.

She exhaled and fell to her knees, exhaustion creeping up her spine. She looked to the Balmerans and Allura, smiling when she saw they were alright as well. Allura soon fell unconscious due to the amount of energy she'd given away, and she was caught by one of the Balmerans. Kagome glanced at the one who'd caught Allura, and she sent her a peaceful smile.

The Paladins landed on the surface of the Balmera and left their lions as they went to join the rest. Kagome stood up and her exhaustion grew stronger. Before long she felt herself fading from that spot, blackness clawing at her vision.

Hunk looked at Shay, who had gathered Allura's unconscious body into her arms. "D-Did Allura do that?" he asked, referring to the defeated Robeast that was now motionless on the Balmera's surface.

Shay looked at him, smiling as she shook her head. "No," she said. "Your other friend did," she said, much to the surprise of Hunk and the rest of the group. "Oh…" Shay glanced around, only to spot the face had gone. "Where did she go?"

"Who are you talking about?" Shiro asked.

"The one who helped with the rejuvenation ceremony," Shay responded. Allura stirred slowly, and Shay helped her stand on her own feet again. "She had long dark hair and blue eyes… Oh! And a pink jewel around her neck!" She turned and pointed to a spot, and getting a look at it, it appeared that pink sparkle flies still hovered in the area. "She was right there…"

"That… That sounds like Kagome," Hunk said, but he didn't understand how Shay had seen her.

"Oh, is that her name?" Shay asked, smiling brightly. "Do be sure to tell her our thanks!"

Allura looked at the rest, and they all shared looks of confusion. Kagome was still in her pod, recovering from Sendak. Instead of saying that out loud, Allura only nodded. "Yes… I'll be sure to carry over your thanks to her when I see her next." The rest were silent as Allura said, and she glanced at the Balmerans. "So did the ceremony work?" she asked.

"Yes," Rax said, kneeling and placing a hand on the Balmera's surface. "The Balmera lives. It thanks you."

They watched in amazement as crystals began to grow all over the Balmera's surface, life returning to it thanks to the energy that had been offered. The surface practically glowed with the turquoise crystals covering it. Even at ground level, dozens and dozens of crystals could be seen growing.

"It's beautiful," Hunk said, and Coran nodded.

"I thought the same my first time seeing a healthy Balmera," Coran said. "Great work, team!"

* * *

A searing burn along her skin caused her to recoil, falling back and out of the magic circle with a sharp hiss of pain. Haggar landed on the ground a few paces away from where she once stood, glowing yellow eyes narrowing as the remaining burn slowly faded from her cold skin.

"... It can't be," she whispered quietly, but she wasn't able to convince herself of that. She slowly pushed herself back up onto her feet, fixing her robes back into place as she turned to face the door. She left, heading directly to the throne room, where her Emperor would be found.

She entered and saw his back facing all who came in. He remained silent, even as he turned to face her, her form slowly drawing closer to him as the door closed behind her.

"What news have you come with?" Zarkon asked Haggar as she came to a halt before him.

"I've managed to feel the resurgence of _her_ jewel."

"Impossible," Zarkon responded, eyes narrowing. "It is gone, just as she is."

"I thought the same at first," she said, "but there is no mistaking it." Haggar was silent for a moment before finally saying the rest that she'd felt. "Her energy was with it. It seems as if she's returned at last, Sire."

Zarkon let silence overcome the room as her words sank in. Soon enough he turned away from her. "I see," he said eventually.

If her words were true, then it wouldn't be long before she was seen again. There was only one place where her energy would resurface.

_**In the White Paladin.** _

* * *

_The ceremony was beautiful in her opinion. She remained at ease, never daring to let fondness stray from her warm eyes. She felt tempted to cry, but she swallowed her tears down with all the strength she had inside her._

"It was for the best," _she reminded herself._

_The way both Zarkon and Honerva looked to each other with so much happiness and serenity, she told herself her choice was for the best. But… even with how many times she kept repeating that single thought to herself, she wasn't able to ignore the pain she felt in her heart. She hid it well from where she stood with other onlookers as the wedding was finalized. She squeezed her hands together in front of her, holding them together until her knuckles turned white and pain started in the joints._

" _I still think you should've told him," a quiet voice from beside her whispered in her ear. She jumped, startled by the sudden voice, before turning her attention up and glaring at the man at her side._

_He was tall and quite a few years older than her, having already been a teen when she was born. He had the same pale complexion she had, and he shared the same dark hair that fell in long waves. It was pulled back in a low ponytail, but two sections of bangs framed his face. Emerald eyes looked down at her with nothing but warmth._

" _Ciyras… I can't do that," she said, and her gaze softened as she looked back at the pair in front of her. "I… You see how happy they look, how happy he looks," Azilu said. "I could never take that happiness from my friend."_

" _I still think you should tell him," Ciyras said, and he saw her lower her gaze once more. He knew she wouldn't ever let her secret spill to anyone other than him, but he wished she'd at least be honest for the sake of giving herself closure on her feelings for the Galra Emperor. "And that's the honest opinion from your wonderful, good-natured big brother, Azilu."_

_She glared at him without humor, despite his jovial expression. "Wonderful? Oh, you've gone delirious, have you?" she responded, and he had to bite back his chuckle._

" _Oh, you wound me, sister," Ciyras responded, and she rolled her eyes._

" _Yes, I can see how much my words scathe you," she deadpanned. She glanced back at Zarkon and Honerva, only to look back at her brother a moment later. "Don't you dare ever say anything about my feelings for him," she cautioned him, narrowing her usually gentle gaze. "I mean it," she said. "It's too late to say anything, and I don't want my relationship with either of them to change."_

_Ciyras sighed and shrugged, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. His earrings jingled some as he did so. "Yeah, yeah, you've got my word."_

_Azilu smiled and leaned into him, pulling his free arm into her own as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you."_

… … …

" _Azilu!"_

_The raven-haired girl turned for only a moment before shaking her head. "I'll be fine," she said, but she had yet to stop. A hand took her by her wrist, and she was met with resistance._

" _You shouldn't go ahead on your own," Zarkon gripped her by her wrist and tugged her to a full stop, his weight not budging as she tried to take another step forward. "You're far too reckless to go without an ally._

_Azilu turned to face him. For a moment, her gaze darted down to her wrist, where he still held her in a gentle but sturdy grip. A second later she sighed and shook her head. "I can manage by myself," she said. "Have a little more faith in me, would you?"_

" _Azilu…" Zarkon let his grip tighten for a moment before he let her wrist go. As soon as he did, a foreboding feeling spread through his chest. "Fine," he said. "Don't let yourself get surrounded."_

_As he said that, he was unable to shake the undeniable feeling that something was wrong. The smile she beamed at his agreement wasn't enough to chase that feeling away_

" _You've got nothing to worry about," Azilu said and she turned and bounded ahead._

_When she got out of their line of sight, she was keen to be more careful. She drew her sword, a pink glow surrounding the blade as she swung it at the ground. The enemies pursuing her were subdued, falling to the ground out cold._

_She turned, looking for who might come for her next, but she was suddenly struck and knocked to the side by a harsh kick to her back. She hit the ground and rolled to face the one who'd targeted her turned back. A large blade swung down at her, and she squeaked as she tried to evade as fast as she could. A few strands of her hair floated to the ground as she got back up on her feet._

_She readied her own sword to guard, and he brought his down to meet hers. The furious clang of metal echoed around them, the shrill ring hurting her head. He brought his sword down again, and this time her weapon shattered, a small, pink jewel hitting the ground as it fell from the sword's hilt. She recoiled and put more space in between them. He ran in with a barrage of attacks that she couldn't fend off, and she threw up a barrier to guard her._

_Her barrier cracked and shattered, to her surprise, and her energy faded fast as she tried to dart back. She realized then that the jewel had hit the ground, but she was unable to recover it. She didn't move fast enough before the large blade swung out towards her. The force of the hit cracked her armor open, and she felt the sharp edge dig into her skin as it sliced diagonally down her body. A harsh gasp came from her, air suddenly running away from her no matter hard she fought for it._

_She dropped to her knees, blood pooling around her knees as flecks of black began to invade her vision. Her foe towered over her, bringing his sword back up for one final strike to her. She neglected to heal herself as she lifted a hand up towards the figure. His blade struck her hand but would budge no further. A pink glow ran up the metal and soon consumed him, destroying his weapon and rendering him fallen just like the others before him._

_She was motionless as she sat there, sharp pained gasps falling from her lips as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding from the large wound that ran from shoulder to hip. Nothing she did seemed to work, as she had used what was left of her strength to take her opponent down._

_She could taste her own blood, the metallic odor becoming too much as it dribbled from the corner of her mouth. Her weight swayed backward as her head began to spin from blood loss._

" _Azilu!"_

_She hit the ground as soon as she heard the shout, unable to remain upwards any longer. Her team made it to her side, and she finally forced a weak laugh from her throat. The pain began to sear through her entire body, nothing batting it away. The pink jewel that had fallen from her sword flashed brighter before dimming entirely, it's color fading to a hazy white. "Haha… I… I guess I-I might be a-a little reckless, after all," she whimpered._

_Both Zarkon and Alfor fell to their knees on either side of her. She felt fingers gently rest on her chin as her head was carefully turned to the side. Her eyes fluttered a few times. Keeping them open was getting harder._

" _Azilu… hold on," Zarkon demanded softly, urging her eyes to open and look at him._

_She looked at him for only a second before her eyes slowly closed. "...'m sorry…" she murmured weakly. " I- I lo..." Her feelings for him repeated through her head, and now she wanted to let him know before it was too late for her, but she couldn't make the words form, no matter how hard she fought to say them. Darkness swallowed her vision as the world around her faded._

" _... Azilu!"_

… … …

" _Her injuries were too severe," Zarkon said, his voice quiet as the rest of the Paladins looked on. "There was nothing we could do before she…" he trailed off, not wanting to say the rest._

" _No way," Ciyras said, disbelief in his voice as he spoke the words no one else could bring themselves to say. "You mean she's gone… just like that?"_

_Alfor nodded, glancing down at the ground they stood on as tears blurred his vision._

_In his hand was the colorless jewel she used to wear, the same one she'd put into the hilt of her sword. At once Ciyras turned his attention down to it. "It was hers," Alfor said, holding it out in an offer to him. "It's only right it goes to you."_

_Despite the connection it had with the Lions of Voltron, he knew none of them had a right to keep it._

_Ciyras slowly took the jewel, and he silently looked down at it. No longer did it have the same vibrancy. It seemed that, just like her, it had died._

_He wouldn't keep it. It was to be with her in death, where it belonged. No one else should have their hands on it._

… … …

_The White Lion had dived to a kneeling position, its giant mechanical maw open as if accepting him. After a moment, he turned to face the two men who'd come to find him. He was silent as he stared them down. He knew he looked like a mess. For the past few days, weeks, months... however long it'd been, grieving had been his only companion. Time became faceless, and nights bled into days without him ever keeping track. He didn't even know how long it'd been since…_

" _What do you want?" he asked, finally exhaling and letting go of the breath he'd been holding captive inside his lungs._

" _How have you been faring, Ciyras?" Alfor asked, his expression soft. "I haven't seen you around since her burial," he told the older man._

_He glanced away, anger flashing through his usually gentle green eyes. The color always highlighted the bold, wine red marks under his eyes. The skin around them was puffy and flushed, making it obvious he'd been crying not long ago. He ignored Alfor's question. "What do you_ want _?" he asked a second time, exhaustion bleeding into his voice._

" _We're here to ask you to become the White Lion's Paladin," Zarkon said, and Ciyras froze for only a moment before whirling around and glowering at the taller man._

" **What** _?" Disbelief filled his voice, but it was far from the good kind. Anger burned right below it._

" _Azilu's loss has hurt us all, but we also need a Paladin for the White Lion, otherwise Voltron cannot be formed," Zarkon said, and Alfor nodded in agreement._

" _The White Lion has accepted you," Alfor said. "Perhaps it is by Azilu's wish. This… carrying on her legacy might be what you need for closure on her loss," he said finally, and Ciyras turned his gaze towards him._

" _Oh," he said off-handedly. "Quite a surprise to see you coming for a replacement so soon." His words were scathing, and Alfor took a step back. "I care not for the sake of Voltron. I lost my younger sister, my only family, and the two of you are here to try and make me her replacement."_

" _What are you saying?" Alfor asked, a sharp pain surging through his chest at the harsh accusation. "None could ever replace Azilu, but we've got to make the best decision for the fate of the entirety of the cosmos."_

_Ciyras narrowed his eyes, barking out a harsh laugh a second later. Cold emerald eyes stared the Galra Emperor down. "She loved you, and I don't think I'll ever know what she saw in you," Ciyras said, his voice as cold as his glare. Zarkon froze at his words and turned back to the Altean. Ciyras froze too, his eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said. A second later he scoffed and glanced down. "What's it matter if you know now since she's gone…"_

" _Azilu…" Zarkon trailed off, unable to finish the thought, and Ciyras turned back to him._

" _Loved you," he finished for him, heat entering his eyes as he stepped forward. "My sister loved_ _ **you**_ _. She trusted you and depended on you, and now look what's happened! She's gone, and she'll never return." Tears finally began to fall freely down his cheeks. "I should've never agreed to let her be the stupid White Paladin! She had potential! She could've been great if not for this… this thing!" He bellowed, motioning towards the White Lion._

" _Ciyras…" Alfor tried to console him and his rage, but he turned furious eyes to him next._

" _Don't you dare!" he yelled. "What kind of friend are you!? Voltron wouldn't be a thing if not for her, and now it really is nothing! She poured her energy and her soul into this thing. You were her friend, and now you come to me trying to get me to take her place as if she didn't even matter!"_

" _That's not-" Alfor tried to speak, only to be cut off._

" _You used her to make this, and now that she's gone you need a replacement," he said coldly. Ciyras shook his head. His long, black hair was free from his usual ponytail and flowed messily down his back. "Well, it won't be me," he said decisively. "All of you failed her when she needed you. Her death is by the fault of all the Paladins, and this is only but part of your punishment."_

" _Azilu wouldn't want you to be angry," Zarkon finally said, and Ciyras turned back to him._

" _Oh, I know that. She was radiant and she saw beauty in everything," he said. "But what she might've wanted doesn't really matter anymore, now does it? Since you let her die," he said coldly before ultimately turning on his heel and stalking away from the pair._

_Alfor turned to Zarkon upon Ciyras' departure. "If he refuses to be the White Paladin, then forming Voltron is impossible," he said. The White Lion could only be piloted by someone who bore the same aura as Azilu did. It was bound to her. If not him, then there was no one else for the task. "We'll have to manage with just the five lions for now, it seems." He paused and glanced down. "Maybe… Maybe Ciyras will come around if we give him time."_

_Zarkon was silent as he listened to Alfor's voice. He wasn't able to get the words Ciyras had told him moments ago out of his head. The pain that came with them was new. Never in a thousand years would he have thought Azilu saw him as anything more than a friend and comrade. She never showed any indication of deeper feelings. If he'd known… if he'd known she saw him in such a light then he knew things would've been different now._

" _Is there really no way to have her return to us?" he mumbled quietly, and without any other words to say, he began to walk away._

" _Zar- huh?" Alfor turned to the Galra Emperor, only to spot him walking away. "Zarkon?"_

* * *

She abruptly fell forward as the pod she was in opened. She landed with a weak whimper, unable to even catch herself in time before she landed. She hit the ground, and she stayed there for a moment as she tried to piece everything together.

Her mind was hazy, fuzzy, and she couldn't make sense of anything. She slowly pushed herself up onto her knees, her arms trembling as she glanced around. Pink pupils surrounded by blue irises took in her surroundings as she slowly lifted a hand to rub the side of her head.

"W-what happened?" she whispered softly. "W-where am I?"

She heard the patter of light feet bolting to her, and she turned to face the direction. In the distance, she could see the form of a small, white feline bolting towards her. When she made it into the room, recollection came racing back, and she sat up with a smile. Kirara phased into her larger form with a joyous roar as she ran the rest of the way.

"Kirara!" Kagome cried as she bolted over to where she was still seated on the floor. She pushed herself up onto her feet and stumbled into her, and Kirara let her knock her to the ground. Kirara laid on her side, her tails lifting to cover Kagome's lower half as she purred contently.

"Kirara ran down this way!"

A familiar voice came from the same hall she had come from, and she froze as she glanced down the dark path. Several sets of feet were bolting down the same hall, their footsteps thundering as they ran to where she was. The others made their appearance known, and Kagome sat up with a smile as the other five Paladins burst through the threshold, Allura and Coran following not far behind them.

"You're awake!" Lance exclaimed, his eyes getting teary at seeing her tucked into Kirara's form.

"We were prepared to wait for days," Allura said as she leaned against the doorframe. She was still tired from the ceremony earlier, but she was happy to see the last member of their team seemingly all recovered and better.

Kagome sat up some more, slowly standing as Kirara helped her back up onto her feet. "I…" she glanced down and shook her head. "What happened?" Everything was a blur to her. She remembered the party, and she remembered Sendak, but that was it. It felt like she was missing something, but she couldn't figure out what that was, exactly. Although… she still felt completely exhausted, and she yawned. "...'m tired, too," she added on as an afterthought.

Shiro smiled and approached her. He set a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her, only to freeze when he saw her eyes. They hadn't looked like that before, that much he knew. He looked back at her eyes. He blinked, and when he looked again, the pink pupil had faded. He thought he might've just been imagining things, and he brushed it off. "Let's get you to bed, then," he said, his voice fond. "We can talk about this tomorrow," he said, looking at the rest. "We could use a good night's rest, all of us."

The rest were unable to argue with his words, and they all nodded agreement. They soon filed out of the room, but Lance stuck back as Kagome slowly left with Kirara in tow. She paused and looked at him, confused. "Something up?" she asked, her voice soft.

"H-Huh?" Lance looked at Kagome, shaking his head a second later. "No, no," he said, but something in his tone kept her standing firm. Kagome frowned and approached him, her hand planted on Kirara's back to keep her upright.

"Lance?" she said his name, and he looked at her.

"Thanks, Kagome," he said abruptly, and her eyes widened in confusion.

"What for?" she asked softly. Even though she was confused, she was unable to keep the smile from her face at his gentle gratitude.

He looked at her and matched her smile with his own. "I dunno if you remember it, but that thing you did when we were under attack by Sendak," he said. "You did something, and it healed me. I wanted to thank you," he said.

Her eyes widened as that memory came back. A second later a fond smile appeared on her face. She lifted the hand she wasn't relying on, and she gently set it on his cheek. "You don't have to thank me," she said then. "I'd do it again for any of you in a heartbeat," she said. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt my team."

Lance smiled, the warmth of her hand comforting him just as much as her words did. Without warning, she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek against his chest as she gave him a hug that was filled with that same warmth. There was something so comforting about it, and he returned it without a second thought.

* * *

Kagome looked at the group with her, her posture somewhat tense. She wasn't sure if they could realize the unease she felt, but no one tried to pressure her into talking, even as they sat waiting. They were patiently calm, quietly waiting for her to speak.

When she woke that day, she woke up with the resolute urge and confidence to share even the worst parts of her past. She didn't understand where this desire came from, but she wasn't going to overlook it. But… now that they were here and all waiting, she felt the smallest bit of uncertainty.

"Kagome…?" Shiro's calm voice pulled her from her musings, and she looked his way. He smiled and nodded, both gestures encouraging her. "You can tell us whatever's on your mind," he said. "We're your team. We're gonna be here for you," he said out loud, and the rest gave noises of agreement with his words. Kagome felt tears sting in her eyes, and she slowly nodded.

"I know that," she whispered, a serene expression washing over her face. "I have a request from you all, first," she said, and they waited to hear what it was. "No matter what, don't interrupt me. We'll be here for a while, after all."

When they nodded to accept her simple request, Kagome took a deep breath, inhaling as she thought about where to start. After a moment, she let go of the breath she held inside her and sighed. "It might be best to start from the beginning," she said, mostly to herself. "It started on my fifteenth birthday…"

She launched into her story, leaving out no detail she thought was important.

She told them about the well, and about finding Inuaysha on the Goshinboku tree. She told them about removing the arrow pinning him to the tree, and about the jewel that had gotten ripped from her body. She went further into the rabbit hole of her past, talking in great detail of her friends and enemies alike that she'd met on the quest to piece back the jewel she now had.

True to their word, the rest of them remained quiet as she spilled her secrets to them. She fell silent after so long of talking, sighing and fisting her hands into her skirt. She knew she'd said a lot, but she couldn't help herself. She felt so much _better_ with it all off her chest. The weight of her burden was gone, and talking about it brought back several happy memories she was grateful to still recall.

"Woah, that's wild!" Lance exclaimed as soon as Kagome gave the okay to speak. She looked at him, a dry smile on her face at his statement.

"You're telling me," she said. "I've gotten used to the crazy side of life, I guess." She frowned a second later, and she looked at the group with her. "I… I hope you can understand why I hid it for so long. I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I know secrets don't help a team function."

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, we get it," Shiro said. "You don't get close to people, and I see why." His words pulled her attention, and he smiled at her. "I just hope you know you can rely on us a little bit more. We're a team. You don't have to stand on your own so much anymore, not with us."

She felt tears prick in her eyes, and she hated herself for getting so emotional over his words. It'd been so long since she was able to be so honest with someone else. "I know that now," she said, nodding as she agreed with his words.

"... Are we just ignoring the part where she said there are demons just walking around on Earth?" Hunk spoke up after a brief moment of silence settled over them. "T-That sounds bad."

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," she said. "Some are bad, but not all. The good ones typically keep the bad ones out of trouble." She thought of Sesshoumaru and shrugged. "Most have adopted modern lifestyles and coexist with humans. So much so, that you might meet a demon and never even realize it."

"Anyway, we're in space. I don't think you've got the time to worry about demons, buddy," Keith said, and he leaned back with his arms behind his head. Hunk nodded.

"You're completely right," he said as an afterthought. He held his hands out as if weighing something. "Demons that Kagome says are peaceful, vs. aliens that wanna destroy planets…? Hmm… aliens are definitely the bigger threat here."

"I think we're all missing the bigger picture here," Pidge said, eyeing the rest with her before looking at Kagome with sparkles in her eyes. "We know someone who completely defied the laws of time and traveled into the past to save the world. That's sooo _cool_!"

Kagome blinked and laughed at Pidge's excited outburst.

"Yes," Allura said with a smile on her face, Kirara resting on her lap as she still rubbed behind her ears. "I think I see why you've managed to adapt to all of this so well," she said as she looked at Kagome.

Coran twirled his mustache as he took in the appearance of the jewel she'd shown them all as she spoke. He remained quiet, not commenting on it even as it struck something deep within him.

It was brighter than the last time he'd seen it, if it was indeed the same. The last time he saw it, it was that hazy white color, but now it seemed to shine even brighter than when Azilu had it in the first place. It was certainly something.


End file.
